The episode begins with the Ashton family celebrating Christmas 1940 and then the New Year. Edwin is offered a manager's job with one of Sefton's business competitors, Dennis Pringle and Sefton realise how much they need to keep Edwin at the works. David is chatting up a girl near his RAF camp while Sheila waits for his phone call at home. Robert comes home on leave unexpectedly and almost misses seeing his mother who has been called away to see her sick mother.

January 1941. Uncertain about the fate of her husband, Margaret's anxiety creates friction at work, at home and in a possible new relationship. Her family realise that they have underestimated the extent of her problems

April 1941. In the Western Desert, Philip becomes friends with a hard-drinking and rebellious Polish soldier frustrated by delays in his transfer to his own army.

Sefton is anxious to discuss changes in the business with Tony who tells his Father that he has no leave due to him. Sefton pays a surprise visit to Tony on the East Coast and finds that his son is about to go away for the weekend with his girlfriend, Jenny. Jenny gets on well with Sefton and is puzzled about the tension between him and Tony.

It is May 1941. David Ashton is home on an unexpected 48-hour leave. Robert is back from a voyage to Africa, laden down with presents. Neither knows yet that Margaret is expecting an illegitimate child. Nor that their mother, Jean Ashton, has taken the news very badly. The relationship between David Ashton and his wife Sheila is as bad as ever. He never bothers to write and seldom spends his leaves with her. She is worries that he is growing away from her and the prospect that he may soon be elevated from flight-sergeant to pilot officer terrifies her. Sheila still gets poison-pen letters about Peg, the girl he made pregnant at basic training camp. When David arrives home, he is surprised to find Sheila sharing the house with a lodger - Doris, one of Sheila's friends from the Naafi.

Liverpool, May 1941. Margaret is going to live with Michael Armstrong, but when she visits him an aerial bomb hits the house, and sets the whole building on fire. Margaret is seriously hurt and taken to the hospital, where members of her family soon turn up to visit her. She is fourth months pregnant and everybody worries about the baby's survival chances. At the same time Mrs. Porter is on her way to Liverpool. A British soldier has found a letter written by John at the battlefield in France, and has sent it to her. The soldier is back in Liverpool, and now she wants...

Liverpool, October 1941. The rationing of food has led to the development of a black market. Sefton has a share in a pig, but wants to buy the other half of the pig as well. Harry Jenkins is reluctant to sell his part, but in the end he agrees. The next morning Harry tells Sefton that officers from the Ministry of Food have confiscated the dead pig, and that Sefton will probably be prosecuted for illegal slaughter. At the same time Margaret is taken to the hospital for her delivery, but the child is stillborn. And Freda confides under tears to Sheila that she has a ...

Liverpool, December 1941. Sheila has brought her son Peter home for Christmas, but her daughter Janet didn't want to leave the Thomas family in Wales. Peter hasn't seen his father David since summer, and is now eagerly awaiting his arrival. In Peter's fantasy his father is a war hero, and he anticipates all the marvelous stories he's going to hear. When David finally arrives Peter is disappointed. His father doesn't want to talk about his war experiences, and just says that he and the other pilots are frightened all the time. He also starts criticizing his son for ...

January 1942. Two security officers visit Edwin to gain information about John Porter. Some weeks ago they traced a transmitter in Belgium. When asking for name, rank and number of the person calling, the answer was John Porter followed by some personal details. It could be a trick by the Germans, but it could also be John, locked up by a resistant group, who uses his technical skills for their own purpose. At the same time Robert is crossing the Atlantic Ocean with his ship, who is escorting a tanker with aviation fuel from New York to England. German submarines ...

Liverpool, January 1942. Freda has a crush on Michael Armstrong. She cannot reveal her feelings for him, but communicates them in a cryptic way by reciting some poetry. Freda tells Sheila that David has a leave and is coming home today or on Monday. With bitterness Sheila remarks that she probably has to share his leave with another woman as usual. She decides to give tit for tat, and joins Freda and Doris on a pleasure-trip to Southport. They go to a dance-hall with some soldiers, but Sheila doesn't enjoy herself, and leaves after a while. At the railway station she ...

Phillip is out in the Western Desert. He is sent on a mine course when he meets Sergeant Hazard. Hazard is a blase, roving type of man - but he has a horrible fear of mines and being blown up by them. He believes in the real enemy, not an enemy planted in the ground. After the course is finished, Phillip and Hazard meet up again in the desert. They discover an abandoned German vehicle and when Hazard investigates, it is riddled with mines. However, with Phillip's guidance he gets out alive and goes off into the middle of the desert.

Margaret is back at home with her family. Tony Briggs' girlfriend, Jenny is staying with the Briggs. Edwin's father has just died and he and Jean go to the cottage where he used to live,to tidy things up. Edwin receives news that John Porter is still alive and he tells Margaret.

John Porter, who has been missing, presumed dead, returns to the Ashton family. The situation is awkward, as Margaret, his wife, is having an affair with Michael Armstrong and she cannot find the courage to tell John about this. David Ashton seeks out his old girlfriend , Peggy Drake, and sees his daughter for the first time. Peggy tells him she is going to get married and doesn't want to see David again.

Phillip is brought into a desert hospital - blind. There he meets Reynolds and Grant. Reynolds is dying and he confides in Phillip that it was Grant who brought the German patrol on them as he fired a shot which they heard, whilst trying to give himself a minor wound in order to be sent home. Phillip recovers his sight, Reynolds dies, Grant goes home free. John Porter tries to commit suicide. Margaret says she has made her choice between Michael and John.

The arrival of Mrs Porter to visit Margaret and John forces Margaret to make a decision about her future. While her mother in law is in the house, it is not easy for her to visit Michael Armstrong, but she manages to do so and tells him everything is finished. While she is out John takes a crucial step in his relationship with his Mother. At the same time, Sheila Ashton is to make a similar decision between her husband and a potential lover.

Philip Ashton is travelling to London after returning from abroad - he is still blind. On the train he encounters Parker, whom he fought with in the Spanish Civil War. Phillip does not realise that Parker is travelling with him, but Parker immediately recognises Phillip. When Phillip stumbles on the fact that Parker is with him, there is a row because Parker shot one of Phillip's companions during the war. Before they arrive in London however, Parker jumps off the train. Also, Sefton Briggs is taken ill. His son Tony comes home to see him, believing that his Father is very ill - however it transpires that all he is suffering from is wind.

Christmas, 1942. The Porters are invited to stay at the Ashton's for Christmas Day. David Ashton is staying in London with his pilot and meets his friend's sister, Grace. Mrs Porter finds a letter addressed to Margaret Ashton - and when she reads it, discovers Margaret had a baby by another man whilst John was missing. Mr Porter and Margaret agree that John is not ready to be told yet, and they decide they must stop his Mother from saying anything. Sheila gets drunk on a bottle of sherry which Colin has given her for Christmas and decides to have an affair with him, but Colin does the noble thing and leaves her to sober up. The programme ends with Phillip returning home, his sight nearly fully restored.

The family gathers for Phillip's birthday party. Freda's boyfriend is introduced to the family. David is living up in London. Jean does not turn up for the birthday party and no-one knows where she is.

Edwin is annoyed with Jean for her strange behaviour. Freda is shocked when Jean is admitted to the hospital where she works with a stroke. The episode is the story of Jean Ashton's illness and death, and following her funeral, the varied effects of this crisis on the remaining members of the family.