It is the spring of 1912. Arthur Birling is about to pass the port around his own dinner-table: a successful man of business and former Lord Mayor, his daughter Sheila is engaged to marry Gerald Croft , son of Sir George Croft. All seems set fair for the Birling family until there is a knock on the door-an Inspector has called with some disturbing news.

A young girl has died a horrible death and an Inspector has come to investigate. But how could a respectable family like the Birlings be involved - and how could the Inspector know so much?

It seems that the whole Birling family is somehow involved in the suicide of a young girl. Yet it is only when the police inspector leaves the house that the family begins to ask questions: how did he know as much as he did? Why was his manner so strange?