County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

John believes his faith has the power to cure. When he returns to help on his father's farm, he finds it can also kill.

As sisters, Gladys and Iris never agree about anything - but on one point they're clear: their old mam can't hear a word of their arguments, can she?

"Honestly, mam, it's all a load of rubbish. I mean, I read me horoscope and things like that, for a joke... but this." A group of women gather to have their fortunes told by a drunken clairvoyant.

Biography of Russian physicist & dissident Andrei Sakharov focuses on his first acts in his civil rights.

When a teacher takes a group of troubled school children on a school trip to Conwy in Wales, the children understand life outside of Liverpool.

The Armstrong Family - Ian (Whately), Kate (Gonet) and their children Tom and Molly live in a nice country house. But beneath this seemingly normal exterior, Maggie begins to suffer violent abuse at the hands of the normally placid Ian, with dreadful consequences for all the family.

A man who was adopted at birth traces his real parents, and discovers that they have severe learning disabilities and do not know he exists.

Lucy Gannon (Soldier, Soldier, Bramwell, Trip Trap) has written Dad, the poignant story of Larry James (Richard Briers), a cheery and independent 86-year-old who has been caring single-handedly for his beloved wife Jeannie James (Jean Heywood) who has Alzheimer's disease. When Larry falls and breaks an ankle his life with Jeannie abruptly changes forever. Jeannie is moved into residential care and Larry goes to stay with his son Oliver (Kevin Whately), his daughter-in-law Sandy (Sinead Cusack) and their teenage daughter Millie (Hannah Daniel). But love and consideration wear thin as father and son have to learn to live together all over again.

A classical string quartet stop at a motorway cafe in early hours. Among the people they meet are a football supporter, a commercial traveller and an elderly couple on their way to Gretna Green to get married.