One of its inhabitants, Esther, seeks out a local doctor, Gilly, and asks if he can provide care for a young girl who is mentally impaired.
Gilly's wife, Anne, expresses her desire for her husband to leave the area, just like their friend Chad.
[7][8] Director Patrick Barton said he chose Montsalvat because it had a huge meeting hall, a courtyard and the inside of a cottage.
[10] The Canberra Times said it was "a good play, well suited to television, and simply loaded with righteousness enough for all those people who found the honest, healthy lust of The Swagmanwas not their .
"[8] The TV critic for The Sydney Morning Herald said the play was "an uncommonly arresting drama about the conflict of personalities" in which the director "used the austere and sombre setting of a farm community lo good effect.