August 1966 - the long hot summer of World Cup euphoria is abruptly shattered when three policemen are gunned down in a West London street. A bewilderingly senseless crime that shocks a nation seemingly at ease with itself and brings an end to the victory celebrations. Yet it also marks a beginning for three men, whose fates are irrevocably bound up with the event and its consequences, which come to a head thirty years on. Frank Taylor - an ambitious detective struggling with the conflicts between career and conscience as he is drawn into intrigues of corruption. Tony Meehan - a gutter press journalist with a nose for a nasty story, using scandal and expose as a cover for his own dark secrets. Billy Porter - a disaffected petty thief, haunted by a violent past, pushed over the edge to commit the ultimate crime.