In 1881, Ceci (newcomer Valerie Gogan) leaves her home in England and emigrates to the untamed territory of New Zealand.
From the very first – and to the very end – Ceci is faced with experiences and difficult men that try her strength and courage repeatedly, forcing her to shed the innocence of her childhood to survive.
She is raped, and when the guilty man, Reg Bowen (Frank Whitten), runs off, leaving her pregnant, she marries his old father (Bill Johnson), who then accidentally shoots himself, bequeathing the farm to his young wife.
After her baby, Olwen, is born, she re-marries, this time to the cold and tyrannical wealthy landowner Calvin Laird (Kenneth Cranham). But Reg the rapist, eventually murders him, and she finds herself the mistress of Hexham, trying to run the vast and isolated sheep station single-handedly.
After losing everything she owns, she marries again – this time to Billy (Peter Bland), a poverty-stricken miner – and makes a new home in the poor coal mining town of Grevillton.
There – with the help of young William (Gordon Karpin) and a disreputable barmaid called Annie (Myra Dalziel) – she resurrects an old tavern.
Finally, when an underground explosion brings tragedy to Grevillton, Ceci returns with her daughter Olwen to the high country where she had lived 20 years earlier, seeking the happiness that still eluded her.
The ITV miniseries was co-produced by Central TV and TVNZ.
Calvin Laird
Kenneth Cranham Ginger
John Howard Ceci
Valerie Gogan Reg Bowen
Frank Whitten Jock Bowen
David Letch Billy
Peter Bland Olwen
Michele Amas
Rebekah Davies William
Gordon Karpin Miss Robertson
Elizabeth Hawthorne Harry
Marshall Napier Sam
Ross Duncan Mrs Laird
Marijke Mann Annie
Myra Dalziel Old Bowen
Bill Johnson
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From the very first – and to the very end – Ceci is faced with experiences and difficult men that try her strength and courage repeatedly, forcing her to shed the innocence of her childhood to survive.
After losing everything she owns, she marries again – this time to Billy (Peter Bland), a poverty-stricken miner – and makes a new home in the poor coal mining town of Grevillton.
