Typhoid Mary.

The story of Mary Mallon, New York cook and typhoid carrier, responsible for seven epidemics, the last of which occurred in 1915, after which she spent the rest of her life in an isolation hospital. She died in 1938; her date of birth is uncertain. The account is given by readings from contemporary accounts by Drs. G.A. Soper and Josephine Baker, the testimony of surviving witnesses, film clips (though there are none of Mary Mallon), and voice-over with many views of New York and its environs, perhaps to make up for lack of more pertinent visual material. The programme provides an interesting account of contact tracing and the history of New York's quarantine procedures, examines the general question of doctor's responsibilities when faced with a public health scare, and sheds what light it can on Mary Mallon, whose motives and personality remain obscure.