Follows Vince, a desperate former popstar who dreams of making a comeback. An impromptu jam session with autistic young drummer Stevie sparks an unexpected friendship between the two misunderstood musicians.
Vince (Ed Skrein) once lived a life of fame and fortune. He had a band named Stereo Dreams with fellow band member Austin (Eoin Macken). Twenty years on, he's now an out-of-work musician who begins busking on the streets in a bid to revive his career. He tries to get gigs in local bars but is mostly turned down. He creates new tunes and presents it to local music shops and gets turned down there as well. Meanwhile Austin is a big thing in the music industry now. He is about to launch his final album and a farewell tour.
Desperate to recapture his former success, he struggles to write a first solo album. One day he starts practicing on his keyboard in the middle of a market when 18-year-old Stevie (Leo Long) starts drumming along. The crowd is captivated, but the show ends abruptly when Stevie's worried mother Amber pulls him away.
Mel (Racheal Ofori) is a bartender at a local pub Peckham's finest. Vince has a crush on Mel, and he wants to play at the pub. But the owner Dave (Joplin Sibtain) rejects him even after Mel's recommendation.
Vince lands himself and Stevie a gig in Peckham's Finest after using the viral clip of the two busking as leverage to secure the show.
Vince searches for Stevie, and stumbles across him and Amber again when he overhears and joins a drumming circle at a church. He invites Stevie to perform.
While Stevie's mum Amber (Eleanor Matsuura) is hesitant at first, she allows it to go ahead (after she sees that Stevie really cares about the music and wants to perform), much to her son's delight. Stevie and Vince start their practice sessions. Amber explains that Stevie is autistic: he is unable to handle crowds or unusual situations, and she does not trust that Vince can handle his meltdowns. However, she changes her mind when Vince is able to calm Stevie down with a drumming exercise they learned at the church.The two end up bonding over their passion for music and starting a band together.
Vince meets Austin at Firestarter studios. He invites Austin to his gig at the Peckham's Finest. Austin is non-committal. Vince calls his band the Denham, but Dave finds it terrible and renames them the Tin Men.
The gig seems to be going well until Vince plays one too many songs and the audience starts to boo them. One man even tries to corner Stevie, which angers Vince, and he ends up in an altercation with him. Stevie and Vince are thrown out of the pub with a lifetime ban, leading to Amber, Stevie's mum telling him that he can't see her son anymore.
This leaves Vince heartbroken, who goes home and watches some of his old home videos, where we learn that his younger brother passed away at the height of his career, therefore wasn't there to see him before he died. Dennis (Neil Stuke) the tour manager had got the band 10 more dates for their tour, and when Vince hesitated, Dennis said "Don't take too long, as we might change our minds about you".
This episode strikes a chord with Vince, and he starts to deliberate whether he values superficial stardom more or making amends with Stevie.
Meanwhile, Stevie lashes out at Amber, accusing her of secretly resenting him for forcing her to quit her dancing career to care for him, and insisting that Vince meant well.Stevie tells Amber that he wants to go to music school. He sneaks out of the house and starts going to pubs by himself to try and book gig for the Tin Men. When he books a gig, he calls Vince. Vince comes back and even joins Stevie's autism support group. The group leader sees that Vince is a good teacher and proposes his name to take over the group, which is a steady job with a comfortable paycheck.
Stevie sets Vince up with an opportunity to apologize to Amber. Vince and Stevie begin practicing and writing new songs again.Former Stereo Dream member Austin Roberts sees a video of The Tin Men. Vince receives the phone call he's spent years dreaming about - Austin, his old band-mate who went on to achieve further success, asks him to be the opening act on his new tour. Their old manager also offers him a recording contract, but dismisses Stevie as "a special needs kid"-he demands that Vince performs as a solo act, and only uses label-approved studio musicians instead of Stevie. Vince wrestles with the offer.
This moment seems to mirror Vince's past when he chose to continue with his world tour instead of going home to see his brother for the last time. At first, it looks as though Vince made the same choice again. He tries to let Stevie down gently by spinning it as an opportunity for him to pursue his own dream of enrolling at a music school. Stevie is distraught, but does as Vince suggests, and he manages to win a place at the Royal College of Music.
Amber visits Vince secretly and thanks him for making her realize Stevie's potential, but also demands that Vince cut off contact entirely, worried that Stevie now has an unrealistic expectation of achieving the success Vince promised. Vince agrees.
However, this meeting with Amber forces Vince to take a deeper look at his priorities and figure out what he really wants. He finds these answers in the studio as he's about to sign the contract. Hearing that his music is being mixed to sound more commercial, he's told he must make the decision there and then, because "if he takes too long, they might change their mind about him."Vince then realizes that the fame he's been chasing all these years doesn't resonate with him anymore, and he ends up turning his back on everything he thought he wanted.
On Stevie's birthday, he decides to set up one final surprise Tin Men gig at the market where they first performed together. As Amber and Stevie arrive, he invites Stevie onto the stage. A huge crowd gathers and cheers for Stevie, and Amber, unable to resist, joins in.
