Her mother in Kenya, 13-year-old Melanie spends her summer vacation at a strict diet camp set in the Austrian countryside. Between workouts and nutrition classes, pillow fights and first cigarettes, she falls in love with a doctor 40 years her senior.

Marie Theres is a perfectly assimilated German in Vienna. She is a good wife to her husband Alexander, an understanding mother to her teenage daughter and a successful and respected doctor, who cares deeply about her patients. One day her perfect life falls apart: her husband leaves, her daughter rebels, she makes mistakes at the hospital and her friends abandon her. Then she meets Fa, a self-confident Iranian woman. The two fall in love with each other and Marie Theres starts to learn to put her own needs and wants first.

Kate has been in a witness protection program for years because she testified against her own criminal husband Ted Kinnock, putting him behind bars. She lives with her now grown-up son Channing in the county of Cornwall in England. Her son falls in love with young Rachel, the daughter of an aristocratic family. Her parents immediately disapprove of the relationship, as they do not consider Channing worthy of their daughter. When Channing accidentally calls an old contact of his mother's called Dave, events come to a head: Dave was Kate's contact at the police station, but they both fell in love with each other. The policeman now rushes to the island to protect the love of his life, because Ted Kinnock has been released from prison early and is out for revenge.

Russian Oligarch Igor is as rich as he is extravagant: He plans to build his brand new villa right on a world famous and preserved bridge in the middle of Vienna! To bribe all the politicians, he needs the help of his interpreter Nadja. But Nadja has her own idea of what to do with all the bribe money.

Bertha Kinsky works as a governess in the Suttner household and has an affair with Arthur Suttner, the son of the house, who is a few years younger than her. When the affair is discovered, she is forced to leave the house and gets a job with Alfred Nobel. Nobel has become very rich thanks to the invention of dynamite. The somewhat reclusive Nobel and the prudent Bertha quickly take a liking to each other. But one day, Arthur Suttner appears on the doorstep, having broken with his family in order to marry Bertha. Bertha marries him and life drives the penniless couple to Russia, where they are confronted with the horrors of war. This experience turned Bertha von Suttner into a successful author on pacifism. She continued to cultivate a close friendship with Alfred Nobel. Nobel detested the war, but gradually realized that he could go down in the history books as a "warmonger" thanks to the invention of dynamite.

Erich „Rickerl“ Bohacek is a likeable loser who on the one hand tries to build up a music career and on the other still wants to be a good father for his little son.

Nine-year-old streetwalker Emily lives with her widowed mother in 19th century New York. Her life changes abruptly when she learns that she has been appointed sole heiress by an aging, wealthy Austrian countess. It is not only an heiress who causes turbulence, but also the countess's attempt to raise Emily as a member of the aristocracy.

Does luck have a use by date? Both thought that at eighty they have experienced everything until, like a bolt of lightening, Rosa and Bruno come together and immediately fall head over heels. There are two obstacles to their happiness though: Bruno’s marriage, which has long been routine, and Rosa’s illness; she has cancer and not long left to live. Despite the difficult circumstances, the two decide to breakaway – Bruno from his relationship and Rosa from her retirement home. Against the advice of carers, doctors and relatives, the pair moves into a new apartment together. ANFANG 80 shows with a great deal of unequivocal humour how insensitively and sometimes desperately overburdened society reacts to love among the elderly.