Award-winning war correspondent Guy Foster (Tim Dutton), distraught after the loss of his first wife, joins a cruise to Cape Town, where he meets beautiful and mysterious Melissa (Jennifer Ehle). A sophisticated blonde PR girl, Melissa is travelling with an exuberant group of media friends.

Guy falls desperately in love with the exotic Melissa and she seduces him very happily into marriage. But while they celebrate, dark events begin to take place. An elderly widower is 'accidentally' lost overboard. The bodies of a middle-aged couple are discovered in Cape Town. Then one of Melissa's friends is brutally killed. The finger of suspicion falls on Guy.. And then to his eternal heartbreak and horror, Guy is found bending over another bloodied corpse...

While in Ireland filming Jake's Progress, Alan Bleasdale's thoughts turned to what to tackle next. A particular favourite novel in Melissa. Francis Durbridge's tale of death and destruction, convinced Bleasdale that here was a challenging project deserving of his next foray into TV writing.