Death advice

The mother of two daughters, Iris Greenwood ( Brenda Fricker ) rules the house with an iron hand and has such power over her daughters that they feel like lifelong "old maids." The younger sister Jody ( Jane Horrocks ) has feelings for the local doctor, but the man is much older than her, and her mother strongly condemns her. The older sister Beth ( Imelda Staunton ) has relative freedom and relations with a man in Bristol, but does not see any future under the dictates of her mother. Although both girls would like to get rid of their mother, nothing happens until Jody runs into the archives of the case of Armstrong, the man who put the city on the map, directed by his unloving wife.