THE SMALL WORLD OF SAMMY LEE

Sammy Lee is the striptease compère at Peepshow Club in Soho. He has five hours to pay off a £300 gambling debt, and spends the day calling in all the favours he can think of from people he knows, trying all kinds of dodgy deals to raise cash. At the same time, he has to compere the afternoon and evening sessions at the strip club. Patsy, a girl he knows from Bradford, turns up, and does everything she can to help him, including doing a turn as a stripper.

When the deadline comes, Sammy has got some of the cash, but not enough. He realises he has lost. He tells the audience at the club some home truths about the strip joint, what the girls think of them, and what lowlives they are. He decides to flee by coach to Bradford with Patsy.

At Victoria Coach Station, he finds the bookie's two thugs waiting for him, and he leaves Patsy to take the coach alone. He faces his inevitable beating. When he regains consciousness he finds that one of his attackers has had a change of heart, and has left his wallet and cash beside him.

Sammy tries to escape with Patsy but is caught by the bookie's thugs, beaten, and ultimately one thug has a change of heart, leaving him the cash.

The ending underlines the inescapability of Sammy’s world—he cannot run from the consequences, but there's a glimmer of pity within the harsh criminal environment. The last act, as Sammy is both punished and unexpectedly helped, leaves his fate open but tinged with the perpetual cycle of London's underbelly. Patsy's departure underlines the personal cost of his lifestyle and the limits of redemption in this milieu.