Tue, Dec 15, 1970
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 four 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 to get more information from him.
Tue, Dec 22, 1970
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 crush on a married man, who doesn't know it and who she never can have.
Tue, Dec 29, 1970
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 small faults in his behavior. When David leaves Liverpool again at Christmas Eve, Peter says that he hates his father.