Plans for the May Day Fair are underway in the village, but everything is not as peaceful as it appears. Mariette is keen to leave home and see the world; Ma and Pop are devastated and doing their best to convince her to stay. Meanwhile, Ma is furious that village gossip suggests Pop is uncultured and illiterate, so he buys her a Rolls Royce to help rectify matters. But then the tax man arrives.

Mariette has agreed to stay for the summer, but her heart is being pulled between Charley the tax man and Tom Fisher. Love must take a back seat as the Larkins convince Charley that they don’t need to sell the farm to pay their back tax. While Pop makes an offer to the Bluff-Gores for their country pile, Charley grows furious that Mariette has tried to fool him with her charms.

Worried that Pop is working too hard, Ma books a weekend in Margate. Charley and Mariette are left to mind the kids and sort out the new TV aerial. Meantime, Tom Fisher is making his move and asks Mariette on a date, much to Charley’s chagrin. Margate is a bit of a letdown, but Ma and Pop try to make the best of it, despite an incident with Ma’s new tangerine swimsuit.

It’s strawberry picking season, and despite being left to the wiles of Pauline, Lil, and Pol, Charley enjoys himself, even though he is dispirited to see Tom make his move on Mariette. Determined to stay in the running, Charley decides to resign from the tax office. Meanwhile, Pop learns the train station will be closed down and sets about trying to save it.

With the imminent arrival of her sister, Ma is cleaning like a demon. Bertha and her family are firm suburbanites who despise the countryside and in particular dirt and animals. Things aren’t going very well between Mariette and Charley, so Tom makes his move. Meanwhile, Tom’s plans for Bluff Court are speeding ahead, and Ma and Bertha do some speeding of their own in a not-so-sisterly road race.

The Larkins dash to the railway station to stall Mariette's departure to France. They convince her to stay for a donkey derby/gymkhana and cocktail party in a few days. The pressure is on for the Larkins—this has to be a magical social event that will change Mariette’s mind.