Synopsis

Elderly aristocrats Lord Charles (Peter O'Toole) and Lady Diana Foxley (Dame Joan Plowright) give their staff - butler Benson (Ian Downie) and cook Margaret (Helen Beavis) - a one week vacation while the Foxleys visit friends as they have rented out their historic mansion for that week to a multinational corporation. As they are proud people, what no one but the Foxleys are aware of is that they are doing so only because they are in dire financial straits, and desperately need the money to retain their outwardly lavish lifestyle. But when the agency through which they hired the temporary cook and butler for the renters goes bankrupt, leaving them with no temporary staff, Lady Diana believes the only way they can get away with this rental plan without incurring a costly penalty or to advertise their financial problems is to act as "Benson" and "Margaret" themselves, much against stuffy Lord Charles' wishes and despite they not knowing how to be domestics. What the Foxleys are unaware of is that the multinational corporation is a front for Global Heresy, young immature American rock stars whose record company has set up this stint as a secret retreat location for them to test their new materials. It is also their first opportunity to rehearse with their new bassist Natalie Bevan (Alicia Silverstone), as their original bassist and the band's front man, Ben Gould (Alex Karzis), mysteriously disappeared two months ago and is supposedly deceased based on what little evidence is available. It becomes a clash of cultures between the proper Foxleys and the wild band. It also proves to be a clash within the five member band, as Nat is trying to be her own person and not a Ben Gould clone. Further problems arise that week as the record company's hospitality man, James Chancellor (Martin Clunes), has ulterior motives in his job at the mansion, and as two unexpected guests arrive who could upset the apple cart both on the Foxley and the band's sides of the issue. —Huggo

Elderly aristocrats Lord Charles (Peter O'Toole) and Lady Diana Foxley (Dame Joan Plowright) give their staff - butler Benson (Ian Downie) and cook Margaret (Helen Beavis) - a one week vacation while the Foxleys visit friends as they have rented out their historic mansion for that week to a multinational corporation. As they are proud people, what no one but the Foxleys are aware of is that they are doing so only because they are in dire financial straits, and desperately need the money to retain their outwardly lavish lifestyle. But when the agency through which they hired the temporary cook and butler for the renters goes bankrupt, leaving them with no temporary staff, Lady Diana believes the only way they can get away with this rental plan without incurring a costly penalty or to advertise their financial problems is to act as "Benson" and "Margaret" themselves, much against stuffy Lord Charles' wishes and despite they not knowing how to be domestics. What the Foxleys are unaware of is that the multinational corporation is a front for Global Heresy, young immature American rock stars whose record company has set up this stint as a secret retreat location for them to test their new materials. It is also their first opportunity to rehearse with their new bassist Natalie Bevan (Alicia Silverstone), as their original bassist and the band's front man, Ben Gould (Alex Karzis), mysteriously disappeared two months ago and is supposedly deceased based on what little evidence is available. It becomes a clash of cultures between the proper Foxleys and the wild band. It also proves to be a clash within the five member band, as Nat is trying to be her own person and not a Ben Gould clone. Further problems arise that week as the record company's hospitality man, James Chancellor (Martin Clunes), has ulterior motives in his job at the mansion, and as two unexpected guests arrive who could upset the apple cart both on the Foxley and the band's sides of the issue. —Huggo

October 27, 2021 at 10:23 PM