In this British drama, the sorts of Britons who live in colonial encampments outside of Britain tend to be the most conventional people imaginable, recreating a little bit of home (and not the most interesting bits) in whatever uncouth foreign place they have landed in. In this story, they are living in Africa, and Johnny Deacon (Tom Bell) is so very tired of them. He's tired of his ex-girlfriend who married another; he's tired of his ex-girlfriend's mother, and he's tired of the men. Instead of coping with them any longer, he goes on a solo journey down the Dark River, and there is a good possibility (which he knows at the outset) that he will not survive the experience.