It is 1957. Unassuming Ministry of Information civil servant Jasper Pye is sent to Arcady Hall in Norfolk to report on the long-overlooked Department of Output Statistics, housed there for the past 17 years with a staff of just three.

Arcady Hall and its unconventional inhabitants continue to work their magic on prim and proper civil servant Jasper Pye. But it is the amorous advances of "wicked" Belinda, inexperienced Matilda and already married Chloe that seem certain to make Pye forget his conventional behaviour, his staid morality and even the reason for his visit.

Jasper Pye is urgently needed for the annual village cricket match. But an unscheduled drinking bout threatens the day's play.