London. The tumultuous 1980's. Flamboyant, old-school ad-man Russell Sheen's empire begins to crumble in a rapidly changing Britain.
Gauche Doug Lennox has lucked into a traineeship at top-five London ad agency Sheen & Partners.
There he becomes caught up in a tragic farce - the life of agency founder Russell Sheen.
Half flamboyant genius, half lunatic control freak, Sheen has Panstick on his face, lifts in his shoes and a monocle in his eye. He's an old-school showman, his empire built on razzle-dazzle and cheesy jingles.
But it's the '80's. The public now demands sexy things in matt black and chrome: Sheen’s business is rapidly approaching the buffers. It looks like advertising from a bygone era.
His family life too is in meltdown. His anarchic, opium-addled son hates him. Sheen has pinned all his hopes on daughter Sophea, the wildest child in South London.
Doug finds himself out of his depth with no arm bands when he meets Sophea. Love and death, success and failure, chaotically combine as Sheen desperately plays every card to salvage his personal and professional lives.