After taking to the high seas in a pedalo to escape the clutches of insurance investigator the One Eyed Man (Hugh Bonneville), Emily (Natalie Dew) and Les (Sanjeev Bhaskar) return home.
It's there they discover Emily's estranged mother, cruise ship entertainer Donna Vegas (Tracy-Ann Oberman), standing in Les's front room. Emily isn't exactly impressed that her mother has turned up out of the blue and needs to decide if she can trust her.
Les and Donna can't deny their attraction to each other and soon Donna is in on Les's life insurance scam and acting like the perfect mother. Unfortunately Emily doesn't know what to believe. Is Donna only sticking around for the money?
Next door neighbours and local B&B owners Derek (David Walliams) and Jeannie Swallows (Sophie Thompson) do their best to recover their beloved lost lawnmower that was 'borrowed-slash-stolen' by Les. After a scathing TripAdvisor review from the One Eyed Man they decide to use the return of Donna Vegas to their advantage, hosting a relaunch of their ailing bed and breakfast.
Nathan (Simon Bird) continues to pursue Emily but she's having second thoughts romantically due to his job as a local policeman. Meanwhile, Emily's best friend Tina Taylor (Harriet Webb) will do anything she can to make her BFF stay in Sandylands.