It is a gothic period piece of piracy, smuggling and murder set in northeastern Cornwall, England in the early 19th century.

It stars Jane Seymour, Patrick McGoohan and Trevor Eve and was directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark.

[1] The production is set in Cornwall, England in the early 19th century, centered on a free house, 'Jamaica Inn' in Bodmin Moor near modern Bolventor.

When her seafaring husband dies in the destruction of his sailing ship by wreckers on the Cornish coast in the early 1800s, the shock causes Martha Yellan’s mental health to deteriorate.

Patience has married Joss Merlyn, the innkeeper of Jamaica Inn, located on a lonely stretch of road in Bodmin Moor.

Mary quickly finds out that Patience lives in fear of her husband, who turns violent when drunk and whose regular guests include ruffians and criminals.

Later, when she takes a walk over the moor, Mary encounters the vicar of Altarnun, the reverend Francis Davey, who escorts her back to the inn.

Meanwhile, the vicar has rejoined the squire and Jem and learns that the latter found a brand new horseshoe in the heather near the inn and plans to have its owner, the likely murderer, identified by the local smith.

The pursuers, following blood hounds, close in and Jem offers Davey a choice between jumping off the cliff and being shot by him.