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22 Episodes 1974 - 1975
Episode 1
117 mins
The true story of a strike in 1970 by female textile-factory workers in Leeds who wanted to be paid the same as their male colleagues, but whose efforts were undermined by the trade union that they belonged to.
Episode 2
58 mins
After the stillbirth of her illegitimate baby, a woman steals a baby at random and is sentenced to nine months in prison.
Episode 3
59 mins
Olwen lives in a tumbledown farm up in the mountains - a lonely widow, virtually a recluse. Her only human contact is with the occasional shopkeeper and young Rachel, who delivers her papers. For Rachel, her visits to Olwen are half adventure, half honest friendship. But they also mean a time to 'put aside childish things.'
Episode 4
78 mins
"Ye spend yer days grindin glass an' at the finish yer life's like slurry at the bottom o' the wheel. The damp gets intae the soles o' yer feet. Yer face turns tae the colour o' pomas an' ye cannae stop it. Somethin' breaks down in the ciest an' the sound o' yer voice gets thin an' one day ye're an old man, bent an' brittle. Don'stay at it, Norrie, get intae the sun an' the fresh air. Don'stay at this trade. For if ye do, it'll bend ye."
Episode 5
57 mins
"Well, I hope I won'be seeing you come home in that uniform much more. Six years - that's long enough out of any man's life." Mike's time is nearly up. The army gives him a weekend pass so he's home from Ulster to decide whether to sign on again. His parents want him to stay but he's wondering whether the family's own flare-ups aren't a bit too like the Troubles he has left behind.
Episode 6
65 mins
After 18 years as a friar, Peter is no longer sure of his vocation. It is a happy life, maybe too much so, and now he has met Clare. Will his doubts run away with him? Runaway friars are officially "fugitives" who must be persuaded back to their order.
Episode 7
57 mins
Eleanor is unable to communicate her inner thoughts as she's bullied at school and virtually ignored by her parents. With a mundane working existence awaiting her, she desires a chance at another life - but at what cost?
Episode 8
111 mins
Birmingham is a melting pot of races and every community has a stake in the city's underworld. When John Kline is released from prison after serving a sentence for murder, he becomes the unwilling catalyst in a gang war.
Episode 9
65 mins
Vice-Chancellor Bartley Humbolt has problems. His young university is almost bankrupt, his wife is threatening to leave him, his protége professor from industry is threatening to overshadow him, and his prestigious professor of history is threatening to resign. But Bartley is a born manipulator. And when he gives a dinner party, he has something very special in mind - for afters.
Episode 10
60 mins
Nell tries hard to cope with her husband, family and friends - but her asthma creates problems. Everyone seems to be helpful - but are they? Is there something sinister about Mrs Pritchett, the new housekeeper, or is it Nell's imagination? Who knows where reality ends and fantasy begins?
Episode 11
48 mins
Billy gets a job on a farm while suspended from school. The fields offer an escape from his tower block, but his friends think he's daft. Billy can see a different kind of life ahead, doing a job he could really enjoy-but events conspire against him.
Episode 12
70 mins
A married couple, after a life time of work and bringing up a family, retire and awaken to the fast changing world around them, the habitual nature of their relationship, and what they have left.
Episode 13
93 mins
The working day of nurse Alan Welbeck at a psychiatric ward. Points out the conditions in UK mental hospitals - understaffing, overwork, bad pay, old inadequate buildings and unsatisfactory patient treatment and cure.
Episode 14
78 mins
"All I said was the gramophone's too loud." Tony and Zoe Lyle 's silly row starts like any other, but Tony finds that Zoe means it this time. She's walking out and he's got a week to save a marriage that he hasn't looked at in 18 years, and with it all the trappings of a good life in Maida Vale.
Episode 15
77 mins
It's the day of the Orange Parade in Glasgow, but for John, the thrill of leading the parade and swinging the mace takes a dark turn, leading him to question his purpose.
Episode 16
64 mins
Thirty-seven men from the disputed territory of South West Africa are on trial for their lives in Pretoria, 1,000 miles from their home. They are to be tried under South Africa's Terrorism Act despite the UN ruling that South Africa must abandon its "illegal administration" of their country.
Episode 17
71 mins
The invitations are out for Richard and Jane Elkinson's annual Christmas party. Only trouble is stockbroker Richard is out of a job.
Episode 18
71 mins
Jean and Norma are two married women, looking for some adventure in a downmarket drinking club. Norma finds unconditional fun with Gordon, but Jean finds her dalliance with Chris to be far more intense than just a cheap affair.
Episode 19
Belfast: 'On the hike' from school, her day controlled by the unreal time of the dandelion clock, Suzy embarks on an increasingly desperate search for her absent father. This edition is missing from the BBC archives.
Episode 20
80 mins
England, 1945-75: Builder Alfred Bagley makes a fortune, with a little help from his friends.
Episode 21
62 mins
Klaus Miller (David Dixon) is due to attend trial for drug dealing to a minor. Although his defending barrister regards him as technically innocent, he realises that the workings of the judicial system aren't entirely in his favour.
Episode 22
97 mins
Adapted from Paul Thompson's celebrated play for the National Youth Theatre, "By Common Consent" is set in an unnamed country sometime in the future where a League of Youth has been established to restore moral and political order. The Boys of City Zone 8 are in disgrace when four of their members desert to join the 'terrorists' in the North.