In 1965, at the age of 25, Alan Ackland is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a business associate. In 1971, Sylvia Barker, lonely and depressed after a failed marriage and with two young children to bring up alone, seeks a new direction in her life and applies to become a voluntary prison visitor. Several years later their paths cross.

A feisty 17th-century Scotswoman falls in love with a despised landowner, to the dismay of her father.

Graeme has musical talent and is struggling to be allowed to express it. Lois is being pushed by her mother into solo parts in the girls' choir. Together they have to perform at a competitive concert while parents and supporters keep score.

It's Laura's first job and she is anxious to do well, but her instinctive empathy with the elderly people in her care puts her in conflict with her colleagues.

A middle-aged doctor has an affair with the student actor she's housing during the Edinburgh Festival.