Joe (David Thewlis) envies identical twin brother, Harry. His sibling has the freedom of a comfortable bachelor lifestyle, funded by a generous army pension whereas Joe is in a dead end job – no money, squabbling children, a live in mother and a wife that he thinks has fallen out of love with him.

Street resident Eddie (Timothy Spall) is in his taxi when he picks up Bob, who's married to his childhood sweetheart, Pat. Eddie can’t resist seeing his first love again, and accepts Bob’s invitation to a charity event.

Charlie, a demolition man (Vincent Regan), is going to work away, leaving wife Roz at home with their teenage kids, Luke and Leah.

Cath lives on the street with her three children, the eldest of whom is Ian. Husband Vinnie is in prison, awaiting trial following a drugs deal. Jan, Cath’s sister, lives across the street with husband Danny and their only son, Gary.

For postman Wayne (Mark Benton), life on the street has been less than kind recently: Wife Val left him, taking with her their two sons and the dog; his back’s deteriorating which makes his postal round harder by the day, and he’s got no money.

Paul (Toby Kebbell) recently moved into a bed-sit on the street. He works as a gardener in local parks and spends his spare time alone.