AustLit

List of episodes and airdates:

1. (Aired Wednesday 24 September 1980)

Shasta Davies is an aspiring showgirl, but when her two best friends die in the flu epidemic of 1919, she sacrifices her career to bring up their three-year-old son, Neil. Years pass, and Neil, now a young man, is invited to a party held by the wealthy Mazzini family, but tragedy is soon to follow. ([Television Guide], Australian Women's Weekly, 24 September 1980, p.43 [supplement]).

2. (Aired Wednesday 1 October 1980)

Shasta warns Neil against Carrie Mazzini, but returns unexpectedly from a holiday and finds Neil and Carrie making love. The romance breaks up and Neil decides on an acting career. Shasta reveals to Neil that she knew the murdered Luigi Mazzini. ([Television guide], Australian Women's Weekly, 1 October 1980, p.43 [supplement].)

3. (Aired Wednesday 8 October 1980)

It is 1936 and Neil has begun acting lessons which are eating into Shasta's savings. After a turbulent afternoon tea party, Neil and Maggie begin a love affair, and Neil asks Maggie to marry him. However, he later discovers that Carrie Mazzini's marriage has failed and she has returned from Malaya. This news causes another confrontation between Neil and Shasta. ([Television guide], Australian Women's Weekly, 8 October 1980, p. 43 [supplement]).

4. (Aired Wednesday 15 October 1980)

It is World War II and Neil, now in the army, has his letters to Shasta returned unopened. Carrie Mazzini, remarried, rebuffs Neil on his final leave. Neil and Shasta are reunited but when Shasta loses her temper Neil leaves. Shasta receives a shock marriage offer and writes to Neil telling him she doesn't need him any more but her dreams are soon shattered. After the war, Shasta learns to live with poverty while following Neil's career through the newspapers. Meanwhile, Neil begins a search for her and the story of the woman who gave up her life and career for her foster son draws to a close. ([Television guide], Australian Women's Weekly, 15 October 1980, p.43 [supplement]).