A perceptive and humorous look at surviving adolescence. Set in the late 1970's, it follows four boys' lives, whose families struggle to stay nuclear. When four boys are growing up, they normally look to their family for support and encouragement. But if your dad is an alcoholic; or your mum is neurotic; or your friend's dad shows you a bit too much attention, while the rest of the world just ignores you; you tend to just find your own way. In the wake of punk and in the foreboding quiet before Thatcher, a generation comes to terms with the ever present threat of nuclear destruction and invasion by Soviet forces. All this whilst suffering school, hair growth, musical revolution and its subsequent dilution, the conquering of girl-kind and conkers. "Touching Wood" is the story of Martin, Billy, Noel and Robert as they scrape their way out of boyhood into adolescence. The boys use football, comics, dirty magazines, graffiti and hearsay to navigate through the minefield of growing up. They fail with drinking, smoking and girls, but end up finding more strength in their own circle than in those around them.