In the late 1960s twin sisters Olanna and Kainene arrive back home in Nigeria, having finished their studies in England. While Olanna moves in with her boyfriend, professor Odenigbo, and his young houseboy, Ugwu, Kainene becomes a businesswoman and gets involved with British writer Richard; But when the Nigerian Civil War breaks out the sisters' liv find out more...

It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...