David Thewlis stars as the titular detective in this BBC adaptation of J.B. Priestley's play set in 1912. When a young girl commits suicide, Inspector Goole (Thewlis) is sent to investigate the prosperous Yorkshire household of the wealthy Birling family. It emerges that each member of the family has a guilty secret and that each one is at least partly responsible for the girl's death, revelations that threaten to destroy the family's reputation.