Squire Allworthy finds a baby in his bed and raises him as his own.

Having left home, Tom Jones gets caught up in a Jacobite rebellion, while his love Sophia attempts to escape the threat of marriage to Mr Blifil. At the White Heart Inn, a case of mistaken identity causes confusion.

Sophia is hotly pursued by Tom on the road to London and both face perils along the way. They encounter a lecherous puppeteer, scheming Harriet Fitzpatrick and voracious Lady Bellaston before being reunited.

Tom falls into fashionable company and Sophia is the object of the unwarranted affections of Lord Fellmar. She is saved by the arrival of her father but Bilfil is still pursuing her hand in marriage.

With all the characters having entered into a finely balanced web of misunderstandings, schemings and rompings, Tom is now faced with a sinful lowness of fortune. This final episode resolves all in a torrent of uncovered truths and happy endings.