Armed with sarcasm, flippancy and a few belongings, Hilary Charles, ex-music teacher and theatre maestro, arrives as the newest resident at the Cedar Village retirement home in Yorkshire where he hopes to forget his life. Stanley Metcalf is the shy, young, resident D.J. who seems content to spend his life hiding away in his broadcast booth. As Hilary is welcomed by Stanley and an odd assortment of fellow residents, he finds, to his dismay, that his past is revealed, including his unrequited love for Norma Jean Baker, a tragic theatre starlet of the north. After further personal revelations, this group of misfit pensioners embarks on the reassessment of their pasts together, hoping to find understanding, meaning and happiness at the end of their lives.