Sheila's fourteen. Her father abandoned her as a baby, her mum's in jail and she's stuck in a children's home. Every family that's tried to look after her has found her too difficult. Now Anne and John Howland want to foster Sheila. But if they can't make a home for her, her future looks bleak.

A clique of girls in an English school wear a small yellow teddy bear on their uniform to signify that they have lost their virginity. Linda, the girls' leader, fears she may be pregnant from her window cleaner boyfriend, "Kinky", an aspiring pop singer. Desperate, and unable to confide in her parents, she must wrestle with her conscience and decide what course of action to take. Meanwhile, a concerned teacher learns the significance of the yellow teddy bears, and in trying to help the girls in question, puts her own career in jeopardy.

A lord returns to his manor with his new wife, to hear rumours that he had already secretly returned and had committed several murders. Has he lost his mind, or is something dark afoot ?