Beautiful and willful Hedda Gabler (Dame Diana Rigg), a very ambitious and controlling woman, enters into a loveless marriage with the respectable, but dull, George Tesman (Denis Lill) to insure herself economic and social security. Upon returning from her honeymoon, where George also worked on the manuscript for his new book, she hints to George's aunt Juliana (Kathleen Byron), whom she resents because she also has influence over him, that she may or may not be pregnant. When her former lover, the idealistic but alcoholic, Eilert Lovborg (Philip Bond) reappears on the scene, he presents a rivalry to her husband's literary standing in the community. She further resents the inspirational influence that Thea Elvsted (Elizabeth Bell), Hedda's former schoolmate, has on Eilert. Driven by jealousy and a need to control the lives of those around her, Hedda seizes the opportunity to act when Lovborg misplaces his latest manuscript.
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler (Dame Diana Rigg) is a beautiful woman married to the solid and respectable academic George Tesman (Denis Lill). Then an old flame, the dreamer Eilert Lovborg (Philip Bond), turns up on the scene with tragic results.