Aubrey Beardsley was a phenomenon, as his contemporaries recognised. Between 1893 and 1898 (when he died from tuberculosis aged just 25) he developed into one of the world's most exciting graphic artists, and turned out hundreds of black and white drawings, which retain their power to fascinate, to amuse and to shock. In this film Brian Reade, Brigid Brophy, Ralph Steadman and a psychiatrist, discuss Beardsley's work and recall the story of his short life. The film has been made almost exclusively from Beardsley's original drawings.