Set in 1929, Bill W. and Dr. Bob tells the story of William Wilson, a New York stockbroker who crashes with the stock market and becomes a hopeless drunk. Robert Smith, a surgeon from Ohio, has been an alcoholic for 30 years, often going to the operating room with a hangover. Through an astonishing series of events, Bill W. and Dr. Bob meet and form a relationship, each helping to keep the other sober.