For centuries, the Murgatroyd family, the Baronets of Ruddigore, have been under a witch's curse -- commit a crime every day, or die in agony. Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, the rightful heir, has run away to live as an innocent peasant ("Robin Oakapple") in the Cornish village of Rederring, sticking his brother Despard with the curse. But on the very day that "Robin" is to marry sweet, beautiful Rose Maybud, it all falls apart. Can Sir Ruthven outwit a picture gallery full of his ancestors' ghosts to save the day?—John W Kennedy