Set in the late 19th century, this adaptation of Wilkie Collins' mystery thriller is a slowly unraveling nightmare that reveals a dark world of powerful and dangerous men. A young drawing master, Mr. Hartright (Andrew Lincoln), is hired by the fretful Mr. Fairlie (Ian Richardson) to teach his two nieces, Marian (Tara Fitzgerald) and Laura (Justine Waddell). On his way to their house, Hartright is startled by a mysterious encounter with a ghostly woman dressed in white. When he meets Fairlie's nieces, he is struck by Laura's resemblance to the woman in white, and tell Marian and Laura of the ethereal woman. Determined to learn all they can about the woman in white, the girls find themselves drawn into a vortex of secrets, crime and treacherous involvement with the fascinating, but sinister, Count Fosco (Simon Callow).