Having left home, Tom Jones gets caught up in a Jacobite rebellion, while his love Sophia attempts to escape the threat of marriage to Mr Blifil. At the White Heart Inn a case of mistaken identity causes confusion.

Sophia is hotly pursued by Tom on the road to London and both face perils along the way. They encounter a lecherous puppeteer, scheming Harriet Fitzpatrick and voracious Lady Bellaston before being reunited.