Winifred Holtby realised that Local Government is not a dry affair of meetings and memoranda:- but 'the front-line defence thrown up by humanity against its common enemies of sickness, poverty and ignorance.' She built her story around six people working for a typical County Council:- Beneath the lives of the public servants runs the thread of their personal drama. Our story tells how a public life affects the private life; and how a man's personal sufferings make him what he is in public. " Corruption, intrigue and romance in a Yorkshire setting. A country squire whose wife is in a mental hospital becomes attracted to a crusading local schoolmistress.
as Sarah Barton
as Robert Carne
as Alfred Huggins
as Madge Carne
as Mrs. Beddows
as Alderman Snaith
as Joe Astell
as Mr. Holly
as Lydia Holly
as Midge Carne
as Mrs. Holly
as Tadman
as Castle
as Bessie Warbuckle
as Lord Sedgmire
as Chairman of Council
as Miss Dry
as Reg. Aythorne
as Mrs. Brimsley
as Mrs. Molton
as Foreman on Road Building Site
as A Psalm Singer
as Village Doctor
as Nursing Home Doctor
as Man Listening to Chairman of Council Speech (uncredited)
