Angela Throgmorton is leading a somewhat lonely life when a strange, scruffy, creature appears on her doorstep. Feeling sorry for the poor thing, she takes it in, feeds it and cleans it up. However, when the creature manages to flood the house, Angela decides to find another home for it. This soon teaches Angela two lessons: firstly, that no-one wants the creature; and, secondly, that she really quite likes him. However, Old Tom and Angela get separated, and Angela goes home alone. Then a storm hits. Angela, learning that the creature has taken shelter in a storm drain, goes off to rescue him. Surfing through the drain on her ironing board, Angela snatches her new friend just before the storm-waters can wash him away. Angela takes him home and calls him Old Tom.
Angela Throgmorton is leading a somewhat lonely life when a strange, scruffy, creature appears on her doorstep. Feeling sorry for the poor thing, she takes it in, feeds it and cleans it up. However, when the creature manages to flood the house, Angela decides to find another home for it. This soon teaches Angela two lessons: firstly, that no-one wants the creature; and, secondly, that she really quite likes him. However, Old Tom and Angela get separated, and Angela goes home alone. Then a storm hits. Angela, learning that the creature has taken shelter in a storm drain, goes off to rescue him. Surfing through the drain on her ironing board, Angela snatches her new friend just before the storm-waters can wash him away. Angela takes him home and calls him Old Tom.
Told by her friend, Lavinia, that she and Old Tom should 'smarten themselves up', Angela takes Old Tom to the local department store to buy new outfits. There, they bump into Lavinia, who insists on taking them shopping. Lavinia leaves Old Tom to play on a children's ride, as she takes Angela around the store, buying increasingly silly outfits for her. Meanwhile, Old Tom breaks free from the ride and causes mayhem around the store, much to the anger of the store manager, Mr Pangborn. Angela, in her new outfit, gets away from Lavinia, just as Old Tom, in disguise, manages to escape Mr Pangborn. They both end up in the Missing Persons department, where they recognise each other and, shedding their silly outfits, decide they don't need to smarten up, after all.