Beginning in 1964, this television drama follows the careers of four members of Parliament from their backbench days through 20-plus years of alliances and betrayals, triumphs and reversals. Each man aims to become prime minister-- but only one will succeed.

When a gifted ghostwriter is hired to write the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang, he quickly finds himself trapped in a web of political and sexual intrigue. Lang is implicated in a scandal over his administration's harsh tactics, and as the ghostwriter digs into the politician's past, he discovers secrets that threaten to jeopardize international relations forever.

It is the summer of 1953 and Nurse Appleyard is rushed to a secret location where she discovers her patient is Winston Churchill, the elderly Prime Minister. Churchill has suffered a stroke and may not last the weekend. As Churchill's wife and family gather at his bedside, long-buried tensions rise to the surface.