Diana Rayworth

The pupils of the Dora Jackson School of Dancing compete in the 1960 Classical Dance Festival in Scarborough. Fifties rock 'n' roll meets classical ballet with the arrival of Dora's ex-boyfriend Clifford and a mysterious ghost.

In 1965, at the age of 25, Alan Ackland is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a business associate. In 1971, Sylvia Barker, lonely and depressed after a failed marriage and with two young children to bring up alone, seeks a new direction in her life and applies to become a voluntary prison visitor. Several years later their paths cross.

Alan and Sylvia fall in love and Alan gains a renewed sense of purpose. He begins to hope for an eventual release on licence. However both he and Sylvia have to face the fact that, for the foreseeable future, they cannot enjoy any physical intimacy. They decide to treat their affair as a long Victorian courtship.