In this 1950s hospital drama, Vanessa Redgrave stars as the daughter of chief surgeon Sir Arthur Benson Gray (Michael Redgrave) who is at loggerheads with the authorities over how the hospital is being run.

A semi-documentary based on the lives of two friends living on the remote Shetland island of Foula. It shows their struggles with the harshness of isolation and the everyday hurdles of love and survival. In 1978 director Michael Powell added a new (colour) introduction and epilogue to the film which was re-titled `Return to the Edge of the World'.