After the death of his father, Nicholas Nickleby (Derek Bond), and his mother (Mary Merrall) and sister (Sally Ann Howes) are cared for by his greedy uncle Ralph (Cedric Hardwicke), who accepts the duty rather unwillingly.
A man named Pilgrim discovers a book, and the more he reads it, the more he is convicted of sin and judgment and a burden begins to develop on his back. Obsessed with discovering the truth and escaping his town, the City of Destruction, Pilgrim ventures outside the forbidden borders and begins his journey to find a Celestial City ruled by a good and noble King, meeting friends and foes along the way.