Series 5

Season 5 · 1989 · 12 episodes

Episodes

1Death of a SonIn September 1982, Pauline and Ray Williams were woken with the news that their 19-year-old son John had been found dead. They discovered he had been experimenting with drugs but the inquest verdict was clear: John had been 'unlawfully killed'. Yet no prosecutions followed. Pauline could not accept this decision and spent the next three years taking on the British legal establishment. The outcome of her campaign has now earned her a place in legal history.
2Angel VoicesIt is the summer of 1963: the year of the Beatles and wild dances like the Hully Gully. Tommy Bray's choirboys set off on their annual trip to Blackpool, but Tommy Bray fears that his beloved choir may not survive the temptations of the time.
3Flying in the BranchesSue hasn't seen her family in Prague since she became a refugee in London in 1968. When her younger sister, Dana, is allowed to visit the West for the first time, Sue is reminded of things she had tried to forget. Amid the tensions of the sisters' less than joyful reunion, Dana announces that she wants to find a husband.
4Words of Love2 February 1959. The Winter Dance party, Clear Lake, Iowa - another date on Buddy Holly's whistle-stop tour. Across the Atlantic, a schoolboy models his life on the rock 'n' roll star whose music and untimely death affected the lives of a generation.
5LeavingA moving, comic tale of three boys about to leave a grim Catholic School in Greenock, Scotland, who find they must each choose a different path in life as they face the future.
6VirtuosoIn 1962, the young pianist, John Ogdon wins international success in Moscow and embarks on a whirlwind career. Ten years later, he suffers the onset of mental illness that threatens to destroy his playing, marriage and sanity.
7The Picnic'I, Margie Starling, am perfectly, perfectly happy, right now!'... and why not? An adoring young husband, a grown-up daughter who'll soon adjust to having a stepfather her own age, and now a birthday picnic by the river. Why shouldn't Margie be happy?
8The FirmThis is the story of rival "Firms" of football (soccer) supporters, and how one man has a wish to team them up for the European Championships of 1988. However, when this is discussed, the opposing leaders are not happy, as they believe this is a challenge to their authority. This Film shows how football violence has progressed from pure violence to a form of organized crime, to the extent that all the leaders know each others home phone / mobile phone numbers.
9Here Is the NewsFreelance journalist David Dunhill stumbles onto the biggest story of his career - but his personal eccentricities seem likely to thwart him.
10Ice DanceA pair of teenagers are determined to achieve their ambition and become professional ice skaters, alternately helped and hindered by their families and friends.
11Sitting TargetsWho has bought the house which is the home for a dozen flat dwellers? When the heating fails and a flat is violently repossessed, things begin to look hopeless. But the tenants begin to fight back..
12Defrosting the FridgeAn American football coach takes over the running of a no-hope English soccer team.