Paper Mask

Christopher Morahan directed this nail-biting suspense melodrama that takes a cynical look at the medical profession. Matthew Harris (Paul McGann) is an unhappy intern at a London hospital who envies the staff doctors and their calling. When a physician who resembles Matthew is killed in an auto accident, Matthew decides to assume his identity so that he can attend an interview the dead man had scheduled for a post at a Bristol hospital. Matthew gets the job and is now Dr. Simon Hennessey, working in the hospital emergency room. He is assisted by friendly nurse Christine Taylor (Amanda Donohue), who ends up falling in love with him. But Matthew makes a fatal mistake and a patient dies. At the ensuing inquest, Christine takes the blame for the accident. Matthew, emboldened by the results of the inquest, decides to apply for a better job at a hospital in Salisbury. But an acquaintance from his past appears and Matthew has to kill him in order to continue with his deception.