Episode Guide

22 year old Lorna is at a cross roads in her life; she is deeply in love with local hellraiser 28 year old Alister and used to enjoy crazy nights on the town with him on the remote wind swept Scottish island they call home. These nights have resulted down the years in more than a few brushes with the law, the latest of ended in a prison sentence for Alister. This has been something of a wake-up call for Lorna, especially as she is left to bring up their feisty two year old daughter Paige without her Daddy. To visit Alister in prison on the mainland means a long ferry and bus trip, and plenty of time to think about what she really wants out of her life.

Lorna has decided to issue Alister an ultimatum when he is released – either herself and their baby girl or the booze! Has Alister got what it takes on a dark Scottish winter night to resist the twinkling lights of the local boozer, or is Lorna facing life as a mum on her own?

Bernadette and Calvin were planning on getting married and starting a new life in South Africa when Calvin was sent to prison, crushing their dream. Can Bernadette make ends meet whilst she waits for Calvin’s release?
 

Kayla is 19 years old and is struggling to cope on her own while her boyfriend Rusty is in prison. Kayla is head over heels in love with 23 year old Rusty. This is no teenage flash in the pan – they’ve been together for three years and are planning to escape to a better life away from Hackney's  postcode gang scene to raise a family together. Living alone in this volatile area presents big problems for Kayla, and after experiencing some serious harassment in her flat at night time, it is clear that she must leave Hackney and find a new home for her and Rusty if they are to realise their dreams upon his release from prison.

Whilst Kayla agonises over Rusty's absence, she is forced to confront her upset over the death of her father and the impact that prison has had on her childhood. Will she be able to lay to rest some of the bad memories of her father's stays in prison? And will Kayla's own experience of true love separated by bars allow her to finally identify with her mother's forgiveness of her father?

40 year old Angela knows that long term partner and father to her daughter 28 year old Tony is no angel. He is struggling with a long standing love affair with heroin, and earlier this year, getting caught once too often for shoplifting to pay for the drug resulted in a prison term.

This wasn’t the first time. Indeed Tony has come to see prison as something of an occupational hazard. But what was different this time was that their bright and spirited six year old daughter Aliayah was growing up and beginning to realise that her father might not be like the others in her class.

When Tony went to prison, Angela told Aliayah that Daddy was at work, but some part of her heart hardened at seeing their little girl without a father again. She vowed that when Tony walked free, he was going to have a make a stark choice; who did he love most – his family or the drugs?
 

Ian and Sarah have an extraordinary love story. Ian, 58, met Sarah in the local pub, and despite their 20 year age gap, Sarah came back to spend the night, and two years later, hasn’t moved out. Together they are bringing up one year old charmer Jed as a doting mother and father, even though Ian isn’t the father. But Sarah is subject to some emotional ups and downs, one of which resulted in an incident in a pub that has put her behind bars.

Ian is determined that this setback won’t blow their relationship off course, nor affect the upbringing of the child he calls his own. At an age where most men in his position would be putting their feet up, Ian is flinging himself headlong into the whirlwind life of being a full time Dad. Has Ian got what it takes to see it all through until Sarah is released, and when Sarah walks free, can they all get their lives back on track?

Sophie is a loving mother of three kids, and until a couple of months ago, was living what seemed an idyllic middle class existence in leafy Surrey. The whole family is connected to the world of showjumping and horses, and Sophie felt a particular thrill of pride when her eldest son 21 year old Ben landed a job at a top London livery stable. There was serious talk of Ben becoming a professional show jumper. More than that, after a few years of being very much jack the lad, Ben had fallen head over heels in love with 19 year old Emma, and appeared to have found The One. However this warm and cosy world was brutally shattered when Ben got involved in a pub fight, and was sent to prison as a result.

Ben lost his job, and his home that came with the job. Emma is standing by him for now, but mum Sophie finds herself angry that Ben has put himself in the position where he should jeopardise everything that he held dear. What has particularly got under her skin is that his serving time in prison was needless – his initial sentence was community service, but he thought himself above the law, and didn’t show up.

Ben is due to be released at Christmas. Will it be harmony around the tree, or will these festering issues come to a head? And in the bleak early months of the New Year, will Ben be able to keep the conditions of his curfew, and his keep life back on track, or, as an ex–con, will he slide inexorably towards a very different kind of existence?