Deze saga duikt in de ingewikkelde levens van een prominente Britse familie gedurende de twintigste eeuw. De serie combineert meesterlijk familiedrama, sociale satire en boeiende verhalen over ambitie en verraad. Volg generaties van invloedrijke figuren terwijl hun geheimen, verlangens en de nalatenschap die ze creëren zich ontvouwen. Het biedt een boeiende verkenning van macht, klasse en de complexiteit van menselijke relaties, allemaal doordrenkt met scherpe humor.
Michael is a lonely writer, obsessed by a film featuring a mad knifeman. When he is commissioned to write the family history of the Winshaws he realizes that the family have cast a blight on his life and he decides to take his revenge by re-enacting his favourite film.
Childhood friends Rachel and Alison are about to go on a journey into the strange, surreal heart of Britain in the early years of our new century. Helplessly swept along on tides they can no more understand than control, Rachel and Alison discover a nation disillusioned by reality yet obsessed with reality TV. They encounter morally bankrupt bankers and people queuing at food banks. And at the centre of this new state of things they find an old family who will do anything to ensure that the country is run for their benefit.