Able seaman Alfred Tufnell is looking forward to leaving the navy and marrying his beloved, Shirley Hornett. An orphan from naval care homes, the service is the only family he's ever known and Alfred can't wait to settle down with Shirley and begin life on their own terms.

He's shocked and hurt, however, to discover that Shirley's battleaxe mother, Emma, has put a deposit down on a house for the pair, just 3 doors from the family home. He can cope with his future mother-in-law in limited doses, but living on her doorstep...?

As the day of the wedding dawns, Albert has disappeared. Best man Carnoustie - being a fellow sailor - naturally gets the blame from Emma for Shirley having been abandoned at the altar, but little does she know that the true reason for his vanishing act is far closer to home!

Can the Reverend Purefoy patch up the relationship between lovebirds Shirley and Alfred before it's too late?