In 1964, twenty-year-old university student Nicky Hutchinson returns to Newcastle after volunteering for the summer in the U.S. civil rights movement. His friends Geordie Peacock and Tosker Cox are eager to start a band, but Nicky is deeply absorbed by his volunteering work, keeping him at a distance from the everyday concerns of his hometown. The tension spills over into his personal life as his girlfriend, Mary Cox, grows unhappy with his distraction, and the trio’s plans are upended when Tosker seizes the moment and wins Mary’s affection, leading to an unplanned pregnancy.
Nicky faces a crossroads: he is offered a job by Austin Donohue, a former council leader who is building a PR and lobbying firm. Captivated by Donohue’s apparent zeal for change, Nicky leaves university to join the firm, much to the dismay of his working-class father, Felix Hutchinson. Meanwhile, Geordie’s home life deteriorates as he clashes with his abusive, alcoholic father, prompting him to flee and pursue a new path in London. There, Geordie enters the world of work under the tutelage of the sleazy crime boss Benny Barratt and begins a precarious life in the Soho sex industry, a move that will ripple through every friend’s life in the years ahead.
Back in the North, Mary Cox and Tosker struggle to adapt to married life in a brand-new high-rise flat, which is plagued by damp and structural problems. Nicky, increasingly alarmed by the housing project’s corruption, resigns from Donohue’s firm in protest after uncovering bribery records tied to the development. Donohue’s operations eventually crumble under legal pressure, and the business world’s collapse follows a chain reaction: Edwards is bankrupted and Donohue is jailed in a high-profile fall from grace. In London, Tosker’s dream of a professional music career falters after a brutal audition, and he settles into a series of modest jobs before turning to entrepreneurship with a loan from Benny Barratt. At the same time, Geordie’s personal life becomes more entangled when he begins an affair with Julia, Benny’s girlfriend.
Nicky’s career takes a more radical turn as he becomes a photojournalist in London, his politics growing increasingly extreme as he moves toward anarchist ideas. When a crackdown forces the anarchist cell underground, his family confronts him, including his mother Florrie Hutchinson and family friend Eddie Wells. The cell is raided, and while most of its members are arrested, Nicky narrowly avoids capture. Eddie then enters politics in Newcastle, running as an independent Labour candidate with Felix as his campaign agent, a partnership that will later face its own strains as Eddie’s integrity comes into question.
As the years pass, a grand inquiry into Metropolitan Police corruption unfolds. The Met’s dirty squad, led by senior figures, finds itself under pressure from a Sunday papers exposé and a government inquiry. A new outsider, Roy Johnson, is brought in to investigate, but political maneuvering, personal alliances, and blackmail complicate the process, delaying a full reckoning. Benny’s criminal empire continues to ride the crest of the storm, while Geordie experiences both professional setbacks and personal turmoil, including the fallout from the affair with Julia.
Seven years later, Tosker has built a modest fortune as a slum landlord, while Mary devotes herself to advocacy work. Tosker’s personal life takes another hit when he has an affair and moves in with a new partner, Elaine. Nicky and Mary try to navigate a fragile reconciliation as Felix grows increasingly detached, his memory slipping as Alzheimer’s takes hold. In London, Nicky’s life becomes a tangle of confrontations and old loyalties as he starts an affair with a young student, Alice, and finds himself torn between his political ambitions and his marriage. Geordie, now an alcoholic and living at a homeless shelter, suffers a brutal turn of events when he is imprisoned after a failed act of desperation; a judge sentences him to life in prison, ending his freewheeling days. Eddie resigns in embarrassment after discovering his assistant is a mole for a PR company, but as he leaves Westminster he is caught up in the Great Storm of 1987 and dies of a heart attack. The storm also offers Geordie a chance to escape his prison transport, but he chooses to stay; his fate remains uncertain as the years continue to unfold.
Mary, who had her own moment of political victory, eventually accepts a bid to run in a by-election and is elected, while Florrie, worn down by years of strain, asks Felix for help and ultimately places him in a care home.
Seven years forward to 1995, Nicky has spent time in Italy and returns to Newcastle for Florrie’s funeral. Tosker and Elaine have gradually rebuilt their business and are on the cusp of opening a floating nightclub when Geordie returns, newly released from prison, and tries to rejoin the scene by joining the opening night band as a keyboardist. Nicky, determined to ease his father’s pain, attempts to remind Felix that his life—especially the Jarrow March—was not a failure, but Felix’s condition prevents him from grasping the truth. Geordie’s attempt to attend the club’s launch is thwarted by a miscommunication with the bouncers, yet Tosker steps in to fill in, finally realizing his dream of a modest musical stardom. The four friends share a quiet reunion at Florrie’s funeral after 31 years, a moment that underscores the enduring bonds between them, even as each charts a different course—Nicky mending relations with Mary, Tosker pursuing new family happiness, and Geordie stepping into an uncertain future.
