World War III has been and gone, and very quickly too. The shortest war in history, "the nuclear misunderstanding" lasted just 2 minutes and 28 seconds (including the signing of the peace treaty).

Three or four years later London has now been almost totally destroyed, with only about 20 people still alive. These include one man on a bicycle providing the electricity for the entire country; a newsreader in half a dinner suit working as the BBC; and Mrs Ethel Shroake of 393A High Street, Leytonstone, the Queen's charwoman who is now first in line to the throne and thus the monarch.

The film followers these survivors. Other notables include Lord Fortnum, who due to nuclear radiation is soon to mutate into a bed sitting room; a small family who have been living off chocolate bars on the Underground Circle Line and whose daughter is 17 months pregnant; soldier-turned-doctor Captain Blues Martin; and a pair of policemen who tell everyone to keep moving.

Then there is also Mate, who works for the whole of the GPO; and a nurse who is the entire National Health Service.