Noel Coward’s great tale of illicit love, Brief Encounter, is adapted from the 1946 film by David Lean. Set in the winter of 1938-39, it tells of Laura, an ordinary respectable housewife, and Alec, a doctor. Both are middle class and married (happily, they believe) to other people, when, after a chance meeting at Milford Junction Train Station, where Alec gallantly remove a piece of grit from Laura’s eye, they embark on a 6-week affair.