Harry and Nancy are an unassuming English couple leading a simple life in the northern town of Gigglewaite. What makes them special is that they are happy – deliriously so – in their marriage. Nancy dies in a tragic fire, however, leaving Harry bereft, dealing not only with the void that has opened in his life, but with a son whose grief is expressed as an angry rejection of his father. Wanting to be left alone to lick his wounds, Harry is in danger of disappearing into his sorrow. But, as chance would have it, Nancy registered her husband for a popular television show before she died. Harry is appalled: there is no way he is going down to London to appear on “Cheeky,” a vulgar but amazingly popular programme that, between trivia questions, features the contestants hurling insults at each other. Only after much urging by his worried friends does Harry sheepishly enter the preliminary round.