Trama

The Korean War, and a long lost letter, separate the lives of young lovers Jean Pargetter and Lionel Hardcastle, whose paths cross again by happenstance.

Lionel Hardcastle and Jean Pargetter were lovers many years ago at the time of the Korean War. They are separated by a misunderstanding but meet again by chance when Lionel needs a secretary from Jean's firm. He takes her daughter, Judith, out on a date and discovers she is Jean's daughter. The two reunite and fall back in love.—Christopher Rothbauer <kg9it@qsl.net>

The series opens in the summer of 1953, when Second Lieutenant Lionel Hardcastle and hospital nurse Jean Pargetter fall in love with each other. Hardcastle is soon re-assigned to Korea to fight in the Korean War. He sends her a letter informing her of his new mailing address, but this letter is lost in the mail. Each member of the couple assumes that their partner has lost interest in the relationship, and does not bother to make contact again.

Following the end of the Korean War, Lionel is discharged from the army and migrates to Kenya. He operates his own coffee plantation for several decades. He has a failed marriage, ending in a divorce caused by the mutual boredom of the two spouses.

Meanwhile, Jean married someone else and has a daughter. Following her husband's death, Jean opens her own secretarial agency. By the early 1990s, Jean includes her adult daughter Judith Hanson among her employees. Judith has had two failed marriages, and still lives with her mother.

Also in the early 1990s, Lionel leaves Kenya and settles back in England. He wants to write a memoir about his life in Kenya, and seeks to hire a typist to take dictation. By coincidence, the secretarial agency he contacted is the one owned by Jean.

Lionel and Jean meet each other after almost 40 years, and reluctantly resume their romantic relationship. They eventually marry and start living together. They share a residence in Holland Park. Kensington.

Lionel eventually completes his memoir and seeks a publisher for it. He finds a publisher in businessman Alistair Deacon, who owed a favor to Lionel's elderly father and wants to repay it. Alistair is a womanizer and rather vain. Despite his flaws, he is hard-working, resourceful, and kind-hearted. Alistair and Lionel soon become close friends, despite an age difference of several decades between them.

Judith is briefly attracted to Lionel, while Alistair is attracted to Jean. Since their romantic feelings are unrequited, Judith and Alistair start dating each other. Following a courtship of several years, the couple decide to marry each other.

Lionel tries to start a career as a television writer, but his first mini-series is a failure. The failure is attributed to excessive network interference, and constant demands for unnecessary rewrites.

Jean eventually retires from running the agency, but grows bored with life in retirement. She starts volunteer work in a charity shop, mostly to keep herself busy.

Early in the series, the character of Sandy is introduced. She is Jean's highly efficient assistant at the agency, and Judith's best friend. Sandy (whose last name is never given) moves in with the Hardcastles following the end of a romantic relationship. Following Jean's retirement, Sandy and Judith serve as co-managers of the agency. Sandy eventually starts dating the policeman Harry, who eventually becomes her husband.

Lionel maintains a relationship with his wealthy father Richard "Rocky" Hardcastle, who owns a country house in Hampshire. Rocky is a lifelong fan of country music and likes repairing classic cars. Despite being in his 80s, Rocky eventually marries his slightly younger girlfriend Madge Darbley, and the duo start traveling the world. He signs over the ownership of his country house to Lionel.