In August 1944, during the V-1 Doodlebug offensive on London, a murder is committed in Heron's Park Emergency Hospital, a rural British hospital somewhere in the Southeast of England. Joseph Higgins (Marriott) dies on the operating table after being injured by a flying bomb. The anaesthetist, Barney Barnes (Howard), has had a patient die in similar circumstances previously.
Inspector Cockrill (Sim) is asked to investigate when Sister Bates (Campbell) is killed after revealing that the death of Higgins was not an accident. Cockrill states at one point: "My presence lay over the hospital like a pallÂ â I found it all tremendously enjoyable." Cockrill's investigation is hampered by the conflict between Barnes and Eden (Genn) because of their competition over the affections of nurse Freddi (Gray). After another murder attempt is directed at Freddi, the inspector restages the operation in order to unmask the murderer.
Where is the film set?
London