Arthur and Beryl Crabtree feel they have earned some peace and quiet after 24 years of bringing up their four boisterous kids. One by one their offspring pack up and leave home, and their dreams of quiet are coming true at last. But it's just a false alarm as each of the young ones' plans fall through, They all end up back home with mum and dad, and somehow the Crabtrees end up with more kids than they started out with. Arthur and Beryl realise that parenthood can be a life sentence.