Life coach Tim Downer is delighted when his new, and only, client tells him she's had a huge windfall. He doesn't suspect there's more to 'Debbie' than the scruffy, overweight drudge she appears to be, but his ex-wife Erica and daughter Alice instantly spot her dodgy wig and strange accent. Deborah is actually a journalist, but she becomes fascinated by the inhabitants of the little seaside town of Shelcombe - which is just as well, for when the magazine she works for collapses she's stuck there, and once she meets Tim without her disguise he gets a few surprising life lessons!