Flora talks over her plan to live off the largess of relatives with her bra-collecting friend Mary Smiling. She settles on an offer from the Starkadders, a Sussex farming family, who sound only too appalling to Mary. After a send-off from her charming cousin Charles, Flora arrives at Cold Comfort Farm and finds it beyond appalling. But there's no turning back - she'd have to face Mary's "look" - so she begins to search for ways she might tidy things up. First she counsels Meriam, the over-ripe young hired girl, and then she begins to guide Amos towards his true calling, which will require a Ford van.

Amos' fire and brimstone sends Flora to seek solace briefly in a tea shop where she encounters and subdues Mr Mybug, a London acquaintance. Back at the farm, she meets Seth and discovers what, besides sex, inspires him. Volatile cousin Rubin slowly warms to Flora's planned farm management shake-up and even Big Business gets a breath of fresh air. Educating the otherworldly Elfine is Flora's next task, undertaken in anticipation of a fateful celebration for wealthy young Dick Hawk Monitor's birthday. Aunt Ada, who's gotten wind of Flora's efforts, makes an appearance downstairs just as the revellers are returning triumphant from the ball.

Aunt Ada rages, but Flora senses hope. As the news of Elfine's impending marriage rocks the clan. Amos appears and shocks them further. The next day, Mybug arrives with Nick, a casting director looking for a newcomer with animal instincts. After finding greener pastures for Rennett, the virgin, and the now bereft cousin Judith, Flora faces her biggest challenge yet. At Elfine's wedding breakfast, all is civility, freeing Flora to wistfully set off on a new adventure.