The artist travels around England in a bid to uncover what Englishness means today, while collecting objects for an exhibition about Englishness. Grayson begins in the Kent port of Dover, where he meets a man who patrols the English Channel looking for immigrants arriving from overseas. Moving on to the west country, he explores older ideas of England, dressing as the spirit of a deer to participate in a ritual with the British Druid Order. Then he visits the country pile of musicians Pearl Lowe and Danny Goffey, where he encounters a nostalgia for the faded glamour of England's past.
The artist explores places in the ethnically diverse Midlands region, keen to learn what the idea of Englishness looks like to people who aren't white. Grayson and his van driver Kirk begin at the only halal tea-room in the Peak District, where owner Rukiya shares her experiences of being an English Muslim woman in the countryside. He then explores the phenomenon of the Desi pub - which are run by English people of Indian heritage - and meets a group of successful businesspeople who have mixed views about calling themselves English.
The artist travels through the north of England, beginning his journey on the northern soul scene in Wigan, where he finds this musical genre that developed into a 1960s subculture still has a grip on local people. In Manchester, Grayson meets musician Paul Heaton of the Beautiful South, whose home boasts an eccentric collection of objects celebrating the north and discusses why northern pride continues to be very real. In Cumbria, at the estate of Hutton-in-the-Forest, Grayson meets Lord Inglewood, who believes that the northern spirit transcends class.
