Funny Girl is the story of a popular 1960s tv comedy series. The writers are Tony and Bill, comedy obsessives, who each harbour a secret. The Oxbridge-educated director, Dennis, loves his job but hates his marriage. The male star, Clive, feels he's destined for better things. And most of all there is Sophie Straw, once Barbara Parker, Miss Blackpool 1964, who's changed her name and abandoned her old life because she just wants to make people laugh, like her heroine Lucille Ball of I Love Lucy fame.