TV adaptation of the play set in a Cambridge School of English for Foreigners in 1962 St John Quartermaine is a rather ineffective but kindly teacher at the school who becuase of his gentle character has hardly any enemies in fact the rest of the staff confide in him or generally pplay on his good nature Then Derek Meadle arrives on the scene He is a new parttime teacher who really wants to be fulltime but people like Quartermaine are in the way