Alan (Bob Pugh) is always the life and soul of the party. In his mid-forties, he's not quite one of the lads anymore but still sees life as a giggle. He has a wonderfully happy marriage to Sally (Lorriane Ashbourne), who although she's the much quieter, more sensible half of the partnership, watches all his shenanigans with fond amusement. They have two teenage sons, the oldest of whom Chris (Ciaran Griffiths) is about to go off to university, a cause of enormous pride for them both.

For Sally's fortieth, Alan throws a big do, inviting all the lads from Mackintosh. It's a night to remember - everyone drinking, dancing, having a wail of a time. You can tell that Sally would rather have had a quiet evening with Alan, that the party's more for him than her, but she enjoys herself none the less. When the evening's in full swing, Alan makes a little speech and tells Sally about her present - in front of everyone, he announces he's going to have a vasectomy so she doesn't have to take the pi

Gary (Marshall Lancaster), works in the off cuts department at Mackintosh, and has a beautiful, expensive home, full of costly antiques and erudite scientific tomes, everything just so. The only thing that doesn't fit is him. The problem is he's had a letter from a solicitor, informing him that he had been left a house and a substantial amount of money. In his father's will. All well and good, except that the only father Gary had ever known was still alive. Both Gary and his brother Stephen (Lee Ingleby) were adopted, only their adoptive parents never got round to telling them. A bit of a shock. Especially for Stephen who got the news without the financial bonus.

Suddenly strange things start happening - Gary finds a piece of paper with versions of his signature on it, although no credit cards or cheque books have been stolen; then he comes home after a day at work to find the kettle warm as if it had just been used; or there's a beer bottle top on the floor which he didn't leave there

Mack has never exactly been a bundle of laughs but over the last few months, his bitter disappointment with life has been increasing, day-by-day. Is the factory with its big pressures and small triumphs, all there is? As crisis point looms, Mack needs to carve himself a future that makes him happy. On the surface, things seem surprisingly good. Mackintosh is on the brink of the most lucrative deal ever and despite his disillusion, Mack is still a sucker for the pull of success, big money. He's also got a nice looking woman on his arm, Miranda (Katie Carmichael). She's a posh girl, bit of a b. but classy. Makes him feel good. She's too quick to hear wedding bells, but that can always be dealt with later.

Then Eddie (Craig Kelly) turns up, Mack's good-for-not-very-much brother. Eddie was the one with the brains, the brilliant future, all of which he wasted. He's become a drifter, full of vaguely formed plans, none of which come to fruition. Whilst Eddie has always envied the fact that