Three characters from the surviving great powers of the world, the United States (Franklyn Heimer), the Soviet Union (Irina Shestova) and India (Dr Bahru), arrive in an attempt to develop a major industrial plant to create synthetic products out of the area's abundant produce of chalk.
[4] The play was well received by critics when it was initially performed; the Yorkshire Evening Post suggested in its review of the Bradford premiere that it combined "fancy, humour and plain brusque conversational commonsense" and that Priestley had "something to say that he has never said quite so well".
[7] When it opened at St Martin's Theatre in the West End of London there were "at least six curtain calls"; the reviewer of the Birmingham Gazette said that "any rapture was earned less by the merits of Mr Priestley's discussion play shot with poetry than by the escapist glimpse it offers of a Britain 25 years hence that need not worry about missions to Washington" but added with some sarcasm that "unfortunately we presumably have to have a third world war first and ship millions of people abroad - presumably the uncultured and difficult ones", concluding that the best actors acted "as if they were something more than mouthpieces for the author's thoughts on civilisation's dilemmas".
[12] The subsequent TV production received at least one negative review from the Essex Newsman,[13] although Emery Pearce in the Daily Herald was much more positive, stating that "Priestley plus television is a new and powerful combination of promise".
[30] This was well received by Lynne Truss in The Times who wrote, "preposterous is how it sounds, but amazingly Saturday's production by Christopher Morahan was magical enough to carry it off", also mentioning that in the play Shrewsbury has become the largest settlement in Britain.
[31] Sean Day-Lewis, previewing the production in the previous weekend's Sunday Telegraph, suggested that it was "a work of false prophecy, muddled style and contradictory attitudes" and that its politics were "craven", but also said that it came across with "beguiling effect" and that Gielgud's performance was "among his best for television".
[32] Hugh Massingberd, reviewing it in The Daily Telegraph, suggested that "for all his professed socialism, Priestley seemed to be conjuring up an Edwardian's nostalgic vision of a country estate that chimes with the great James Lees-Milne's admirable claim that 'squirearchy was probably the most successful form of local government that's ever been devised'".