Paul Pennyfeather is an Oxford divinity student who finds himself sent down after a group of drunken undergraduates remove his trousers and he is accused of exposing himself.

Forced to look for work, he seeks the services of an employment agency who secure for him a position at a sleazy Welsh boys' boarding school, presided over by the colourful Dr. Fagan.

[4] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "John Krish has directed a fast-moving and funny Decline and Fall with enough familiar faces to ensure its commercial success.

It was a vainglorious attempt, as the joys of this hilarious comedy of upper-class manners lie solely on the page; neither Krish nor his trio of scriptwriters have the satirical wit or irreverent verve to translate them to the screen.

"[6] Leslie Halliwell said: "Flabby, doomed attempt to film a satirical classic which lives only on the printed page.