The Edge of the World

John Laurie - Peter Manson
Belle Chrystall - Ruth Manson
Eric Berry - Robbie Manson
Kitty Kirwan - Jean Manson
Finlay Currie - James Gray
Niall MacGinnis - Andrew Gray

Harsh winters and poor harvests have left the crofters of remote Scottish island Hirta with a failing supply of food and peat for warmth. Families are bitterly divided: Robbie Manson and James Gray insist that the island folk should leave for the mainland, but neither Grav's son Andrew nor Robbie's father Peter want to leave their homes. Andrew and Robbie aim to settle the argument in the traditional manner by a race up the cliffs but Robbie falls and is killed. Holding Andrew responsible, Peter refuses to allow him to marry his daughter Ruth and the young man despondently leaves the island to find work on the mainland.

Months later, Andrew learns that Ruth has given birth to his child who is seriously ill but cut off from the mainland by the treacherous seas. As he returns to take the child to safety, the islanders reluctantly accept that the rock will no longer sustain their old way of life and prepare to be evacuated. As the boats are loaded, Peter makes one last climb of the cliffs, but falls to his death. The people of Hirta leave their crofts for the last time and sail for the mainland as Andrew raises a monument to Peter, who ultimately did not leave his island home.