This Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Rebecca is based on Daphne du Maurier's classic novel of the same name. Emilia Fox stars as Mrs. De Winter, a young middle class girl who meets her rich but aging husband, Mr. De Winter (Charles Dance), while he is travelling. The two fall in love almost instantly, even though Maxim is still grieving over his first wife, Rebecca, who died only one year earlier. They impulsively decide to get married and enjoy a blissful romance, until returning to Manderlay (Maxim's estate), where Mrs. De Winter finds that Rebecca still has a strange hold on everyone. This is especially true of the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Dianna Rigg), who goes so far as to refer to her as the second Mrs. De Winter.