Great Britain

Sir Jock Mellor (Alan Bates), a leading industrialist, recently knighted, has all the trappings of an international success - a luxurious suite of executive offices, a lavish apartment in London's Belgravia, a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce, a beautiful wife (Gemma Jones) and a young daughter, Myra (Samantha Weller). But all is not as it seems... he is suffering from a growing disillusionment with himself and his way of life. Surrounded though he is by wealth and outward success, Sir Jock is a very lonely man. His first wife and teenage son now live in America and things are far from right between himself and Lady Mellor. Their constant bickering is a harrowing and destructive force. He has only two friends: Ted Williams (Christopher Benjamin) his docotor [sic], and Stephen Grain (Ian Hogg), an old school chum who is now a mildly successful painter whom Sir Jock had not seen for many years. When life at home becomes too unbearable, Sir Jock makes one of his rare visits to his eccentric father (Leslie Sands) and, later, his sister before flying to New York in a very depressed state. After an embarrassing meeting with his ex-wife and teenage son, Sir Jock attends an exclusive dinner party where, as the invited speaker, he is a complete disaster. Realising that he is not a well man, he returns to London and undergoes tests at the London Clinic. He is visited there by Lady Mellor before leaving to accept a request from a television company to give a live interview. The dramatic consequence of this decision brings about a powerful conclusion...