It was based on an English TV play by Leslie Thomas that had already been performed by the BBC.

[6] Although based on a British script it is the only Australian made television drama set during the Malayan Emergency.

[7] During the Malayan Emergency, British soldiers are having a break from jungle patrol at a Malay Beach Club House.

Several of them are attracted to a Eurasian girl, Marianna de Souza, who is there to meet her boyfriend Corporal Cutliffe.

Investigations into her death are cut short when the company is sent out on patrol under Sergeant Wiley.