In the late 1930s, three reclusive middle-aged spinster sisters live on their run down family estate in Ireland. Otto Beck, a perpetual graduate student from Bavaria with a habit of making pompous declamations, rents the back lodge to work on his esoteric thesis. Imogen Langrishe, the least repressed of the sisters, begins an affair with Otto. Imogen takes the love affair seriously, but Otto just enjoys the cheap lodging and the comfort of Imogen.
Guest Stars:
Jeremy Irons, Judi Dench, Annette Crosbie, Susan Williamson, Harold Pinter
How could photographs, taken on a simple camera by two Yorkshire village girls, have momentous implications for man's understanding of the world?
Guest Stars:
James Grout, Sarah Wright, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Linda Searle, Helen Fraser
The outrageous – and not entirely reliable – memoirs of Irish writer Frank Harris, sometime cowboy in the Old West, friend to the famous in the literary world, essayist and critic, and seducer of beautiful women.
Guest Stars:
Leonard Rossiter, Susan Penhaligon, William Russell, Margaret Courtenay, Hal Galili
1897: A quiet afternoon in Kensington Gardens. A little boy in a red tam-o'-shanter realises he is being watched by a small man with a huge St. Bernard. The man is J. M. Barrie...
Guest Stars:
Ian Holm, Ann Bell, Maureen O'Brien, Tim Pigott-Smith, Anna Cropper
1906: Arthur is gravely ill. Sylvia turns more and more to Barrie for help. A wealthy man following the huge success of Peter Pan, Barrie is only too happy to respond.
Guest Stars:
Ian Holm, Ann Bell, Maureen O'Brien, Tim Pigott-Smith, Anna Cropper
1913: Three years have passed since Sylvia's death. George is now a man and Michael, 13 years old. For the Llewelyn Davieses, childhood is at an end, and illusions are about to be destroyed.
Guest Stars:
Ian Holm, Ann Bell, Maureen O'Brien, Tim Pigott-Smith, Anna Cropper
A man adjusts to freedom after years incarcerated.
Guest Stars:
Tim Barlow, Gwen Taylor, David Burke, Paul McDowell, John Bennett
Abandoned by her husband, Eileen tries to make the best of bringing up her children in a rundown bed-sit. A man called George shows her attention, but others are suspicious of his motives.
Guest Stars:
Anne Raitt, Rudolph Walker, Kim Clifford, John Quarmby, Hugh Martin
The promotion of an ambitious, decorated NCO is put in jeopardy when he marries an unconventional wife and faces the snobbery of his superiors and their families.
Guest Stars:
Bill Paterson, Ann Beach, Derek Bond, Timothy Spall, Ray Burdis
A classical string quartet stop at a motorway cafe in the early hours. Among the people they meet are a football supporter, a travelling salesman and an elderly couple who are going to Gretna Green to get married.
Guest Stars:
Peter Benson, Jean Heywood, Christian Rodska, George Irving, Bill Dean
A dramatisation of the life and work of the artist Auguste Renoir, based on the book by his filmmaker son, Jean Renoir.
Guest Stars:
Richard O'Callaghan, Paul Spurrier, Lee Logan, Peter Duncan, Hetty Baynes
A middle-aged childless couple on a remote farm adopt a Black boy with no limbs due to the effects of Thalidomide. They encounter a great deal of resistance and scepticism from their friends and neighbours.
Guest Stars:
Bryan Pringle, Judi Dench, Terry Wiles, Tim Wylton, Jean Rimmer
A middle-aged woman who enjoys making lavish ballgowns wishes her daughter would visit more often.
Guest Stars:
Polly Hemingway, Sandra Voe, David Ellison, Stephen Bill, Stan Richards
At a teaching Order, Conroy is asked to mentor promising student Stephen, who is feeling pressured.
Guest Stars:
Steven Grives, John Wheatley, Peter Cellier, Donald Sumpter, Rex Robinson