Freddie Jackson is released from prison in 1984 having served a four-year sentence for armed robbery. His wife Jackie, who has been waiting for him on the outside in the mistaken belief that that he wants to go straight, soon finds herself disappointed: Freddie is in fact raring to get back into the game and has set his sights on becoming top dog in the East End underworld.

Samuel, a Russian-born Jewish inventor who specialises in the development of hearing aids, is tasked with a secret mission by MI5 to use his technological expertise to contribute to western Cold War efforts. Following the tensions of the space race and the first hydrogen bomb test, Samuel's efforts factor in to the emergence of the modern world.

A portrait of Lord Longford, a tireless British campaigner whose controversial beliefs often resulted in furious political debate and personal conflict.

Patrick Melrose is a man from a very privileged yet traumatic childhood in the 1980s. Patrick's father was a very abusive man and Patrick's mother put up with his behavior. Eventually, Patrick's trauma led him down a path of adulthood addiction and severe substance abuse in New York.