It sounds like a fun romp, and it should be a fun romp, but it isn't. Instead, it's tiring and plain silly, without a single plausible character.

A judicious comic actor, Arterton plays the eponymous Tamara, who throws a small English village into a tizzy when she returns from London to put the family cottage on the market.

Frears' broader aim is to fully chart the daisy chain of consequences set in train by bad moral behaviour, a theme that has proved a favourite of his and which he prosecutes here with very satisfying results.

There are moments of charm and interest in this adaptation of Posy Simmonds' 2007 graphic novel, but it never quite seems to establish its tone, and the plot falls flat as a result.