The editor of The Daily News gossip column has retired, leaving Neville Lytton and his arch-rival Henry Field to compete for the vacancy. When Australian tycoon Wayne Monroe tries to buy the paper, Lytton sets about investigating his past.

Lytton, the new gossip diary editor of The Daily News, spends the day with his estranged wife, Catherine, and Laura Grey, his girlfriend, is less than pleased. Meanwhile, on the work front, Lytton investigates a merchant banker who disapproves of his daughter's relationship with a record producer, has something in his past that he's trying to hide.

Lytton investigates the identity of a masked woman who strips at stage parties. Gambler Lucky Jim Diamond threatens to sue for defamation over an article Lytton has written.

Lytton meets his old friend Hamil, who seems to be involved in a shady deal with an MP called Westaway. Soon, Lytton gets involved and falls victim to blackmail.

Margot Shelley, a fading film star, has just published her autobiography. However, Lytton is more interested in the memoirs of starlet Solveig Lindstrom.

Whilst visiting Catherine, Lytton is informed about strange goings-on at the home of Lord Rimmer. He uncovers a plot to create a right-wing political movement and exposes the story in his paper.