- Haughty, recently-widowed Margery Heywood and her cleaner Gladys Gladwell go on the run after mistakenly believing that they have killed a teenage burglar, holding up a post office for Gladys' money, and giving petty crook Terry Mason a lift, they are pursued by the police. Their uneasy alliance is made uneasier when Margery learns that her late husband Eric had a 20-year affair with Gladys and the discovery profoundly affect Margery's son Graham. A further shocking revelation takes the pair to Blackpool where another truth is revealed, leading to a genuine friendship and an end to their troubles.—don @ minifie-1
- Margery lives in South Kent and is part of a neighborhood watch group. While Margery is attending the meeting of her group, it is shown that at the exact same time a burglar is breaking into her home. Margery returns home early as her cleaning woman Gladys is supposed to come soon. Margery was thinking of firing Gladys but gave up the idea as Gladys counts on the money she earns. Margery opens the door for Gladys, while the burglar is shown to be upstairs.
Recently widowed Margery Heywood (Penelope Keith) (who was married to her husband for 39 years) and her cleaning woman Gladys Gladwell (June Brown) disturb a would-be burglar breaking into Margery's house in Kent. Margery attacks the burglar with a heavy glass vase and knocks him unconscious.
Believing that she has killed him, she panics and flees the house with Gladys. Gladys tells Margery that it might be difficult to stick to the "self-defense" story, as Margery stuck the burglar with a crystal vase, from behind. Margery knows that her lawyer is no good, as he has still not settled the case of Graham's estate. Margery reaches out to Gordon Thompson (Alan David), who is the head of the neighborhood watch committee. Gordon says that even if Margery acted in self-defense, she could be charged with murder. Gladys would be charged with aiding and abetting.
Margery and Gladys decide to dispose off the body before leaving town. They steal a carpet and return home. But Gordon notices the strange activity and calls the police, who knock on Margery's door. This forces the ladies to abandon their pursuit and escape through the back door, with Margery forgetting her handbag on the kitchen counter.
Meanwhile, the burglar Scott Wilkins (Matthew Lockwood) was not dead and he went back home when he regained consciousness. As a result, the police find nobody in Margery's house. The police led by Detective Inspector Woolley (Roger Lloyd-Pack) believe that 2 intruders entered the house late at night and abducted Margery. Woolley also notices the stolen carpet (which has a picture of a tiger on it) and says that it does not go with the decor. Margery is a defenseless, recently widowed, 60-year-old woman, with money. She is a prime target for burglars.
In Gladys's car, the two women decide to try to reach Margery's son Graham (Adam Godley) in Milton Keynes, hoping he'll give them shelter and money, but the trip turns into a comedy of disasters. Inspector Stringer (Martin Freeman) reaches out to Graham to try and understand when he last met Margery, which was 3 months ago in the funeral of his father. Graham tells the police that Margery had a cleaner. Stringer speaks to Gladys's husband Troy (Peter Vaughan), who says that he hasn't seen Gladys since the previous evening.
On the road, the ladies are forced to break into a pharmacy to obtain insulin for Gladys's diabetes, 'do a runner' from a petrol station (as Margery's purse was in her handbag) and dodge police cameras on the M25. Unknown to both, the CCTV at the pharmacy recorded all their actions. Margery calls Graham and finds that the police has already interrogated him. Margery wants to surrender, but Gladys says that she should first try and make up with Graham and they decide to continue their journey to Milton Keynes. They stay at a B&B for the night and leave the next morning without paying their bill, as Margery did not like the breakfast service or the attitude of their host.
Stringer believes that Troy and Gladys abducted Margery and now plan to demand a ransom from Graham, but then Troy comes to the police and reports that even Gladys has been missing for 2 days. Gladys remembers that she is carrying her pension slips and attempts to cash it at a local post office. Mr Singh (Kulvinder Ghir) is the presiding officer, and he refuses to cash the slips as Gladys has not produced any identity documents. Margery threatens Mr Singh with the insulin injection, claiming it has deadly spores in it, to force him to cash the pension slip.
Margery is devastated to learn of a twenty-year affair between her late husband and Gladys - and that her son knew of it. Gladys says that she was wronged as well, since Margery's husband promised her that he would leave Margery. Gladys claims that she had nobody to share her grief with. Meanwhile, Stringer looks at the CCTV footage from the pharmacy and concludes that it is Gladys who has abducted Margery. Woolley is not happy with Stringer jumping to conclusion at every piece of evidence.
Gladys picks up a hitchhiker named Terry (Richard Ridings). Terry had trade number plates, which were handy since Glady's number plate was printed in the paper, plus she reckoned that the police were looking for 2 women, and having Terry in the car would be a cover. When Terry changes the plates on the car, the same is picked up by a traffic camera. Now Stringer believes that Margery and Gladys have been abducted by a known criminal Terry. Stringer looks at the footage with Gladys taking an insulin injection and concludes that Terry is forcing them to take drugs. Margery and Gladys eventually reach Graham's home. Margery learns that Graham's father Eric also secretly bought a boat and planned to sail away perhaps with Gladys. Margery assures Graham that killing the intruder was a mistake. Terry drives away with Gladys's car, so Gladys is forced to steal Graham's car.
With the police, led by about-to-retire Detective Inspector Woolley (Roger Lloyd-Pack) on their trail, the two women drive to Fleetwood, where the boat is parked. Eventually, Stringer arrests Terry. Woolley confronts Graham, who admits that Margery made contact with him the previous night and tells Woolley that she killed the intruder by mistake. This is huge news to Woolley as so far, they had no proof of any murder. Graham eventually tells Stringer about the boat at Fleetwood.
Margery and Gladys use the trains and avoid the police with pure luck. They reach Fleetwood. There Margery meets Arthur. Arthur was Eric's friend from high school and they had planned to sail away together. Eric died the day before they were due to sail. Arthur says that Eric was married to a dull woman, and had a floozy on the side. The boat, it seems, was purchased with stolen money. After a night on the town at nearby Blackpool, the two women are arrested by Woolley and Stringer. Woolley tells Margery that Mrs Wilkins brought in her son Scott for burglary, and he admitted to breaking into Margery's house the day she went missing. Margery had kept a list of everything she had stolen and intended to pay each and every one their due amount. Woolley lets them go.
The 2 women take the boat and sail off to the Caribbean with Arthur. Woolley retires, Stringer is demoted to traffic cop, Graham marries his house cleaner Nina (Ivana Basic) and they have a son together.
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