Nick Guest moves in with the wealthy family of a college friend. As the boom years of the eighties unfold, Nick finds his life altered by the rising fortunes of this glamorous family.

A story of love, class. Sex and money. The Line of Beauty crawls deep under the skin of Thatcher's Britain. Framed by the two general elections which returned the Conservative government to power, the series unfurls over four extraordinary years of change and tragedy.

Nick Guest, a young gay Oxford graduate of modest means, is invited to stay with the wealthy Fedden family at their home in west London. Dysfunction and glamour come in equal measure with the Fedden's: father Gerald, a Tory MP consumed by his rising status within the party; wife Rachel who barely recognizes her manic-depressive daughter Catherine; and son Toby, for whom Nick has had a secret crush ever since their time together at Oxford.

Drifting through this world of wealth and power, of cocaine-fueled country house parties and political soirees, Nick becomes entranced by their powerful, privileged life. But when the comfortable world of the Fedden's and their social circle has cracks running through it - cracks that will profoundly affect Nick's life.