Episode list

Fatima wants to be a journalist. But she's a 17-year-old girl in a traditional Turkish family. And her father, with four daughters and the threat of unemployment, is easily convinced by his sister that Fatima should leave school and return to Turkey to an arranged marriage. However Fatima sees her future in Australia - she's editing a local community newspaper, her best friend is Angie, an Anglo-Australian, and her newest friend is Saret, a refugee from Cambodia. Then Fatima's father discovers that she has attended a sex education class and her days in Australia seem numbered.

Saret is determined to save his remaining family from starvation. He and his sister Kanyat, refugees from Cambodia's killing fields, are working day and night in order to bring their mother and brother to an unsympathetic Australia. Saret's unlikely friendship with Alex, a streetwise Macedonian boy on the way down, proves to be a bonus when Saret is attacked late one night by a gang. The two friends return home only to find that Kanya has not been so lucky. Taking her to hospital Saret is revealed as an illegal immigrant and arrested. But he manages to escape and his Australian friends find him a secret hiding place as he agonises over whether to return to Cambodia with his sister.

Angie is 16 and enjoys life. She belongs. She's bright, tough and can handle anything. Since her father left for another woman eight years ago, she and her Mum are best friends. And her relationship with Alex is good too. Except for the company he keeps. But things start going wrong when she discovers she is pregnant. Her Catholic mother wants her to have the baby, and Alex wants to get married. Angie's independence is slipping away as other people begin to plan her life. She can see a familiar pattern emerging and with the assistance of Fatima begins to arrange an abortion. Suddenly life is more complicated and she has to face the consequences.

Everyone wants Alex to grow up. But is growing up robbing chemist shops and taking drugs with his gang? Is it trying to get back together again with Angie? Or is it pleasing his father by settling down and working hard and making the most of the "new" country? A confused Alex finds that Saret, who is still in hiding, is someone who understands and who will listen. But Alex is arrested when the chemist robbery goes wrong. In disgrace at home, he discovers that his one remaining friend Saret has decided to return to Cambodia with his sister. Fatima, Angie and Alex make a last minute dash to the airport.