John Martin is on trial for his life. Facing him, the infamous 'hanging judge', George Jeffreys. But this is not a cut-and-dried murder case, because the innocent young girl Martin is accused of killing has been seen after her death.

The narrator, Stanton (Simon Williams), tells the tale of a young squire, John Martin (Wilf Scolding), who in 1684 is prosecuted for murder by the King's Counsel (Peter Capaldi) in a court presided over by the notorious Judge Jeffreys (Elliot Levey). But Ann Clark (Jessica Temple), the simple-minded and poor country girl he is accused of murdering, has been seen after her death.—The Professor