Baltimore, 1959. Danny's dad is the only man in the neighborhood who didn't fight in World War II. Danny, who's 12, gets teased and folks make nasty cracks about cowards. An old radio tower on a nearby hill is about to be torn down, and Danny decides to climb it to prove his courage. Help comes from an aging neighbor, Old Man Langer, a former construction foreman who's dying of cancer and wants Danny to help him commit suicide. Langer rigs pulleys and weights to help the lad make the climb. Meanwhile, an aggressive and angry neighbor (an army vet) regularly gets drunk and shoots off his rifle, and Danny's dad must confront him. It all comes to a head one stormy night.

Two families - De Lutrelles and McFarlanes. They both live in the same house, but 130 years apart in time. De Lutrelle's: father Gervaise, mother Violette and daughter Constance. In their age, around the house were goldfields. Family emigrated from France with the remnants of their wealth, and hoping to find gold so they would restore their fortunes. McFarlan's: father Doug, mother Jenny who decided to get in a new business: eco-tourism. Guests will stay with Doug and his family - second wife Jenny, stepson Fergus, daughter Mandy, and sister-in-law Lily, who maked troubles wherever she goes! Doug has also another son, Daniel. When the series begins, Daniel decides he wants to meet the father who left him and his mother Caroline when he was just a baby. He invites himself to stay for the holidays and, with the help of the mirror, he changes everyone's life, his own included.

Based upon the life of activist and trade unionist (and later MP) Sonja Davies. The film covers her life up to 1956, when, at age 33, she was elected to the Nelson Hospital Board. During this period she develops strong socialist beliefs, marries and divorces, at age 17 trains as a nurse, has a romance (and a child) with an American marine who is killed in WWII action. She battles tuberculosis and marries a former boyfriend when he returns from the war. She becomes part of a women's ill-fated campaign to save the Nelson railway line from closure and begins to be elected to political bodies.

When a Sumatran rat-monkey bites Lionel Cosgrove's mother, she's transformed into a zombie and begins killing (and transforming) the entire town while Lionel races to keep things under control.