Long Autumn, appropriately named, is a retirement home for theatricals in the autumn of their lives, where euphemism reigns supreme, together with a firm belief that elderly equals senile. Into their midst is flung Maisie May, a former music-hall star, too much of a burden for her strait-laced son and daughter-in-law, who do not find Maisie amusing. Initially the ever-cheerful, irrepressible Maisie copes with the rigours of Long Autumn in her own inimitable style, but she becomes increasingly depressed. Then one day a breezy impresario, Chris, arrives with big plans for Maisie...