Set during the summer months of 1953 Churchill—now Prime Minister for the second time and in his late 70’s—suffers a life-threatening stroke, which is kept secret from the world. Told from the viewpoint of his young Nurse, Millie Appleyard, the drama follows his battle to recover as his long suffering wife Clemmie desperately hopes the stroke will force Winston to retire while his political friends and foe scheme to plot who will succeed him. Meanwhile his adult children descend on Chartwell, unsure if he will pull through, as tensions within his family begin to surface.