Richard and Anthea are the lucky couple who seem to have all the good fortune fall into their lap; yet in a very British way, they are thoroughly nice and eager to help their friends and neighbours. The only problem is that, with the best of intentions, they end up sucking out their independence and self-respect, in short the life out of them. Ayckbourn wrote this play as a response to critics who accused him of only writing about unhappy couples and the author is on record as saying that this play is his personal favourite, which is quite an accolade.