The main story is set in a British Military Intelligence Office in Whitehall during 1956, where a small group of foreign affairs analysts find their quiet existence disrupted by the Suez Crisis. Ewan McGregor plays Mick Hopper, who is doing his national service as an interpreter of Russian documents. Bored with his job, Hopper spends his days creating fantasy daydreams that involve his work colleagues breaking into contemporary hit songs. Louise Germaine plays Sylvia Berry, the blonde wife of the violent Corporal Pete Berry (Douglas Henshall). Sylvia is an object of desire for Mick's ...