In the late 1950s, a young Hyacinth desperately tries to force her family to climb the social ladder.

In the late 1950s, Hyacinth works as a maid to Dulcie and Claude Cooper-Smith and tries to pass off Daddy's alcoholism as the effects of his war wound--not that it fools her sisters: long-suffering lock-keeper Daisy; promiscuous Rose; and Violet, who knows how to catch a rich man. When Dulcie learns of her husband's infidelity and takes a lover herself, Hyacinth walks in on her but displays total discretion, stating that she wants a gentleman as a spouse. Her boyfriend William could fit the bill, but Daddy predictably scuppers the relationship.—don @ minifie-1

This comedy prequel to "Keeping Up Appearances" is set in the 1950s and charts the early life of the remarkable Hyacinth. Long before she became Mrs. Bucket (pronounced "Bouquet," of course), young Hyacinth was already dreaming of matching china and a bedroom in pastel shades. But her desperate attempts to transform her sisters and her darling Daddy into an altogether-better class of family are not appreciated. Daisy goes around wearing Daddy's overalls, Rose has a new boyfriend every week, and if Violet continues to consort with her married manager, she could be inches away from shame and destitution. The girls live in a crowded canal cottage with their widower father, a part-time brush salesman with a drinking problem. If only the family were more like the Cooper-Smiths, in whose house Hyacinth works as a maid. Because now that she's had a glimpse of how the elegant upper classes live, there is no looking back.—Anonymous