In the first episode, Alan Clark joins the Department of Employment, parties with the Coven, suffers under the tyranny of the civil service and scandalises the House in a late night session.

Determined to escape the hateful confines of the Department of Employment and get into the very vortex of power, Clark plots his way ever closer to The Lady (Margaret Thatcher) and her lovely ankles. But at every turn, he is hampered by his predilection for scandal and gaffes.

Clark has finally made it into the coveted Ministry of Defence. But his triumph is short-lived when he finds himself once again walking on thin ice with his old rival Tom King. All the while, the political temperature is rising - poll tax riots rage, the Gulf War breaks out, and The Lady's iron grip on the Tory party appears to be slipping fast.

In the grip of a hopeless affair, Clark is lovesick and his relationship with Jane is crumbling under the strain. Convinced that his political career is also on the descent, it’s decision time: to stay or to go?

Revelations of Clark's affairs with the Harkesses have hit the tabloid headlines. The media is in a frenzy. Clark yearns to return to the cut and thrust of Parliament, but with his political reputation and health in steady decline, can he realise his dream?