Set in the early 1940s at the vicarage in Merton-cum-Middlewick, we find the Rev. Lionel Toop's wife, Penelope, who is an ex-actress. While Lionel is away, Clive, an actor who has been enlisted and stationed nearby, calls on his old friend. He invites Penelope to dine in town which is out of bounds to servicemen, so he dresses in Lionel's blacks. Miss Skillon, a parishioner, sees the couple repeating one of their theatrical scenes and draws the wrong conclusion. She is convinced that the wife of her beloved vicar is having an affair and attempts to expose her. Matters become highly complicated when Lionel arrives home, followed by Penelope's uncle (the Bishop of Lax), a visiting vicar, and an escaped German P.O.W. disguised as a vicar!