Gerald Arthur Otley (Tom Courtenay), a petty thief and garbage rummager, wakes up one morning after a drunken night on the town, and finds that he is wanted by the police for murder, and that is only the beginning. While being pursued for a crime he did not commit, he is kidnapped by a group of criminals who suspect him of being involved with double agents. Otley manages to escape, but cannot avoid getting into one nearly fatal crisis after another, as police and foreign agents chase after him. There follows a wild week of misadventures that he will never forget.—alfiehitchie