Lytton's Diary

Jan 9, 1985

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.

Jan 16, 1985

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.

Jan 23, 1985

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.

Jan 30, 1985

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.

Feb 6, 1985

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

Feb 13, 1985

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.

Jan 8, 1986

Lytton returns to his desk at The Daily News after a brutal mugging. He is soon involved in investigating a suicide and a Whitehall scandal helps to get him back into the routine.

Jan 15, 1986

A new journalist at The Daily News is instantly unpopular when it's discovered that her job is owed to the editor's patronage. Lytton sends her in pursuit of a runaway tennis star.

Jan 22, 1986

A famous sex symbol has a change of heart about on-screen nudity and receives a rich and mysterious visitor. Lytton is on the story, but is waylaid by his paper's owner and a mysterious lunchtime appointment.

Jan 29, 1986

Lytton investigates why the same well-known faces are always appearing at an American evangelist's healing ceremonies, and is also involved in a confused plan to publish his first novel. The behaviour of the young new editor of The Daily News horrifies him.

Feb 5, 1986

Duncan Anderson, a revered public figure and a friend of Lytton's, is regarded as just another old fogey by pop columnist Trevor Bates. Meanwhile, Henry is deeply concerned about midnight meetings in a gazebo.

Feb 12, 1986

Lytton is a judge at an international beauty competition gone awry, and finds himself investigating an old friend's financial background. Meanwhile, the paper's owner is planning a technological revolution in Fleet Street.