George Cole stars as the cranky and eccentric Henry Root, retired wet fish merchant and arch conservative, who is waging a one-man war against the influx of foreign culture threatened by the coming of the European union. A self-appointed guardian of the English way to do things, and armed with a bushel of half-baked notions about the Continent ("goats and garlic, the bidet and Liaisons Dangereuxes in the early afternoon"), Root sets out with long-suffering wife Muriel on a reconnaissance mission. In the course of their journey, which takes them to France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy and Germany, they encounter a bewildering array of unfamiliar situations and a variety of real-life Europeans, including the famous Italian politician and sex symbol, La Cicciolina. Through Root's eyes we get a comic look at the lives, customs and cultures of continental Europe.