Based on the trilogy of novels by Jean-Paul Sartre, The Roads to Freedom deals with the lives of various people in Paris as war with Nazi Germany becomes inevitable.

The series drew several comments over its nude scenes and frank sexual references, including a comic yet highly sympathetic portrayal of a homosexual man.

In 1971 David Turner won the Writers Guild award for 'Best British Television Dramatization: Jean Paul Sartre's Roads To Freedom (BBC)'.

[9] Peter Hitchens recalled watching the original 1970 broadcast in May 2022: "the drama’s subject matter went beyond pure politics to deal with abortion, philosophy, general disillusion, homosexuality, the morality of war and of communism – and the desire for freedom for its own sake.

Colin Baker commented: "It was an extraordinary experience to be in an adaptation of a great writer’s work in which all the characters – almost without exception – were flawed, damaged, depressed to the point of self-destruction or in my case just plain bad.