The Oracle

Robert Beatty - Bob Jefferson
Joseph Tomelty - Terry Roche
Mervyn Johns - Tom Mitchum
Michael Medwin - Timothy Blake
Virginia McKenna - Shelagh

In The Oracle, a young journalist, (Michael Medwin) Timothy Blake, visits an island for a holiday and discovers an oracle at the bottom of a well. Blake decides to exploit the oracle's accurate predictions - for weather forecasts, racing results, the problem page – all sent back to his editor in London, who prints them in his newspaper. While clearly pursuing profit, the editor also claims to be driven by a modern concern for the future, telling his reluctant staff that Blake has 'a source of truth, a key that can open the doors to social and scientific advancement.' The editor insists on asking questions that will have a major impact on the mass readership, culminating in the momentous 'Will there be another war?' The oracle's predictions, formerly confined to the mundane queries of a small island, are now major issues made known to the nation and the world.