When a young doctor is killed in a car accident Matthew Harris a hospital porter sees his chance to escape a mundane existence. He steals the dead mans papers and successfully applies for the post of casualty officer at the Royal Clifton Hospital in Bristol.

As Dr Simon Hennessey, he starts a new life in the town, but after the gory nightmare of his first shift, Matthew realises he has embarked upon a gamble he has little chance of winning. The disaster strikes when one of Matthew’s patients dies.

The medical profession closes ranks to protect one of their own kind and Matthew is saved from justice. Yet now the stakes in Matthew’s outrageous bluff have been dramatically raised and when his past finally catches up with him, it seems as if one more death on his conscience will hardly matter...