Clockwise

Brian Stimpson, headmaster of Thomas Tompion Comprehensive, is elected to chair the annual Headmasters' Conference in Norwich. He publicly discusses this achievement during a school assembly, marking the start of the film's central premise. The assembly features the pupils singing the hymn 'To Be a Pilgrim' with Mr Jolly.

Despite weeks of rehearsal, Stimpson boards the wrong train and misses his Norwich connection. In his haste to catch the departing one, he inadvertently leaves the text of his speech behind on the other carriage. The delay foreshadows the chaotic journey to the conference.

Desperate to reach Norwich, Stimpson's plans collapse when his wife, thinking he already departed, leaves him stranded at the railway station. He is left without his prepared speech and without a partner in the plan. This marks the breakdown of his orderly routine.

On the road, Stimpson tries to hail a taxi but encounters Laura Wisely, a sixth-form student driving during a study break. He coerces her into driving him toward Norwich by taking control of her car, disrupting both their days.

Stimpson's wife spots him with Laura at a petrol station and assumes an affair. She drives after them toward the conference, while both she and Laura's parents forget to pay for the petrol, adding to the mounting chaos.

The police are alerted and Laura's parents report the car stolen and their daughter missing. Mr Jolly joins the pursuit, and Stimpson and Laura are chased toward the conference by an ever-growing group.

Taking a break to call the conference from a telephone box, Stimpson vents his frustrations about malfunctioning phones. A local calls the police, and she sends her daughter Pat to help, who turns out to be a childhood friend and former girlfriend of Stimpson.

Pat agrees to drive them to the conference, but her presence complicates the dynamic as old memories resurface. Stimpson tries to control the situation, turning the ride into a tense pursuit toward the venue.

A string of wrong turns sends the group into a farmer's field where the car becomes mired in mud. Stimpson leaves the vehicle to seek help, prompting a chain of events toward an unexpected detour.

While away, Stimpson ends up at a monastery where a monk persuades him to bathe and collect himself. The detour provides a comic respite from the escalating chaos as he attempts to regain his balance.

A local farmer frees the car from the mud and Pat drives away in the car, only to be arrested for assaulting a police officer. The group resumes its scramble toward the conference, now under tighter scrutiny.

Stimpson arrives at the conference in a torn car-salesman suit and delivers an improvised recount of his lost speech. He mocks and humiliates the assembled headmasters, then orders everyone to stand and sing 'To Be a Pilgrim' before stepping out to face the police.

As the conference disperses, Stimpson and the rest are led away by police in the escort car, with Stimpson still barking orders as if in charge. The crowd watches the spectacle, sealing the film's satirical ending.