Neil Armstrong

Over the course of four decades, the personal lives of a quartet of Newcastle friends—Nicky, Geordie, Mary, and Tosker—intertwine with various political machinations, often for the worse: slum housing projects, police corruption, the rise of Thatcherism, political sleaze, and specific events like the 1984 Miners' Strike.

In 1830s rural England, a courageous young girl, envied by women for her beauty, lusted after by men, is accused of witchcraft and forced to rise above the prejudice of many people in the community in which she lives.

In a heroic journey of epic proportions, everyman Charlie McFell wrestles with his demons — including a coldhearted wife, economic hardship, the horror of the world's first Great War, and a painful secret he'd rather forget.

Ex-police psychologist Rob has plenty of problems of his own. Having retired through ill health, he is quite aware that he is not the best person to talk down suicidal single mother Chrissy when she threatens to throw herself off a Newcastle tower block. Rob is, however, the only person available, so he sets about helping Chrissy to overcome her fears, unexpectedly confronting several of his personal demons along the way.

After the mobster who murdered his partner is acquitted, semicorrupt detective Robert Bryant hires a beautiful female assassin, Maria, to kill him. When he discovers that he cannot afford Maria's services, Bryant is forced to hire another assassin, Madison, to kill her. Maria survives the doublecross and sets out to collect what's owed to her, one way or another.