A Victorian-era murder mystery about a parlour maid that discovers that her employer may have killed his first wife.

A series of stories about the lives and loves of nine men in a Prisoner of War Camp over five years. Location shooting in the British occupied part of Germany adds believability. The main story is of Hasek (Redgrave) a Czech soldier who needs to keep his identity a secret from the Nazis, to do this he poses as a dead English Officer and corresponds with the man’s wife. Upon liberation they meet and decide to continue their lives together. The other inmates’ stories are revealed episodically.

A shy British teacher looks back nostalgically at his long career, taking note of the people touched his life.