The series is set in a dystopian future in which Britain is under the grip of the Home Office's Department of Public Control (PCD), a tyrannically oppressive bureaucracy riding roughshod over the population's civil liberties. Edward Woodward plays Jim Kyle, a journalist on the last independent newspaper called The Star, who turns renegade and begins to fight the PCD covertly. The officials of the PCD, in turn, try to provide proof of Kyle's subversive activities.

Based on the novel by John McGahern and set in Ireland in the 1950s, the series tells the story of Moran and his children. Especially the girls find it difficult to get away from the influence of their despotic father and start living their own lives.

Maja and Janne move to the barren and remote island of Stormskerry, where survival is a daily struggle. Growing up in a world of old values, Maja becomes aware of a new era: a woman can be an equal partner instead of a mere bystander. The couple have children, and life is good until trouble sets in: war arrives on the island, Janne is forced to flee from the English troops, and Maja and the children are imprisoned. The family also faces many financial difficulties and death. Years pass, but Maja remains strong and stays in Stormskerry despite all the hardships and difficulties.

A trooper with the British Special Air Service (SAS) infiltrates a radical political group who are planning a terrorist operation against American dignitaries. A glamourized look at the methods and tactics of the famed British anti-terrorist squad.The SAS are a elite army unit which as well as its Anti terrorist role also performs covert and overt training of friendly countries armed forces and operates enemy lines