"Women Talking Dirty" is the touching comic story of two women who truly test the meaning of the phrase "best friends". Coming from disparate worlds, these two friends bond through a chance meeting followed by a series of unpredictable events Ellen (Gina McKee) is a shy, but successful Edinburgh cartoonist who falls hopelessly in love and marries a seductively compulsive gambler, Daniel (James Purefoy).

Cora (Helena Bonham Carter) is a feisty Scot who comes from the highlands. She leaves home to study biochemistry, falls head over heels for a Frenchman named Claude (Julien Lambroschini), and winds up becoming a single mother trying to make ends meet. Together Ellen and Cora help each other with all that life throws at them - lovers, divorce, children, bills and too much vodka. A colourful and quirky group of friends provide additional support. Stanley (James Nesbit), Ellen's boss, coaches her on relationships while secretly holding a candle for Cora. Ronald and George (Richard Wilson and Kenneth Cranham) seem to have unlocked the secret to a lasting relationship, while enigmatic Emily Boyle (Eileen Atkins) understands all. With cosmopolitan Edinburgh for a backdrop, "Women Talking Dirty" tells the story of Cora and Ellen and the unravelling of a dark secret they unknowingly share.