Spirit Entertainment The Plague (BBC4) [DVD] [Import]

The Black Death descends on Seville, one of the richest and most significant cities in the world. It is the doorway to Europe for goldrich migrants from the New World, and it is a city cloaked in Catholic piety. Pursuit of power is fueled by fear and greed, and hypocrisy abounds. Convents are lax, brothels are regulated and hospitals are used as graveyards. Mysticism and chaos rule. Mateo, a former heretic, must now return to the city that sentenced him to death. He must honour the dying wish of his best friend: to save Valerio, his friend's bastard son. On arrival in Seville, Mateo is arrested, but the Holy Office offers Mateo a proposal for absolution: solve the murders in the city which all seem to be part of a demonic ritual and he will be pardoned. For Mateo this is life or death and he is drawn into a conspiracy which reaches the very heights of power in Seville. As the plague begins to consume the city, the walls are closed and the pursuit to find the murderer intensifies. Steeped in intrigue and treachery, The Plague is a unique noir thriller, with edge-of-seat suspense, taking you back to a complex time when public repression and private hedonism walked hand in hand. Cinematic, stylish and with exceptional attention to detail, its period setting, combined with a contemporary pace, dramatically captures a chaotic era.