A newly retired American couple pack up and move to a small English village, but they're not getting the peaceful life they hoped for.
Larry and Joyce Hannigan have inherited property in the fictional English village of Tarslaw, just outside Newcastle. Larry suffered a mild heart attack at the age of 54, which convinced them both to pursue a slower, simpler life. Both recently retired and viewing life differently since the heart attack, they've bravely chosen to leave their life in Rochester, New York behind and create a new pastoral existence, free from the trappings of technology, noise and city bustle.
No car, no cell phones, no internet. As Joyce proclaims in the opening episode, "We want a peaceful life. With flowers and bicycles and tea and fish and chips." But instead of that new stress-free English country life, Joyce and Larry begin to feel like the victims of an elaborate practical joke.