Dr Thomas Eliot, just arrived from Europe at the end of the Second World War, gets his first post at Leicester in the UK. As an enthusiastic young man, he is full of fresh ideas. Nevertheless, he sees the people around him coping with life while the rationing is still in force causing a lack of good food. The Good Doctor feels, after being the victors of a long hard conflict in Europe, these people deserve better. Food poisoning strikes the council estate, and turns leads to the cause; tins of poor-quality food being sold by the local factory owner, Sir Roger Folville. Events unravel, which virtually lead to the downfall of the government, and Dr Eliot must face his own nightmare.