Corridors of Blood

In 1840, distinguished surgeon Thomas Bolton is convinced there must be a way to undertake painless surgery. He is a caring man and even runs a free clinic for the poor and underprivileged. He is particularly concerned about patients who are operated on without the benefit of anesthetic. His experiments lead him to the discovery of nitrous oxide but his first attempt at a demonstration to his colleagues goes very very wrong. He is also experimenting on himself, which affects his health and his surgical abilities. When he is banned from the hospital, he turns to a tavern keeper for help in getting the chemicals he needs to continue his experiments. In return, he is forced to help them by providing false death certificates from which they make a pretty penny murdering people and selling the bodies to the hospital. The police are soon on to them.