Peter, a mathematician who embodies niceness itself, is in financial trouble because of his brother’s bankruptcy. His neighbour Margaret decides to seek help from his friends who spend much of their time boasting about their wealth. But while his friends happily take advantage of Peter's good nature in their own hour of need, how willing will they be to help him in his?

A legal aid solicitor and a prominent barrister battler over their individual careers and the future of their teenage son. Painfully they learn that justice has a number of guises and that the young are occasionally wiser than their parents.

It's election night 1969. Don and Kath hope that there will be a change of government, and give a party to watch the results. As the tide turns against Labor, the good cheer palls and the faded ideals and disappointed hopes of the characters begin to show.

A young policeman's first day on duty becomes a violent and highly charged initiation into law enforcement.