Barriers

Part 1

Six months before his 18th birthday, Billy Stanyon's mother and father die in a sailing accident. They leave him a flute, some letters, and the knowledge that they were not his biological parents.

Jan 4, 1981

Part 2

Billy visits his birth mother's old house in London, where he encounters fugitives from an anti-apartheid demonstration.

Jan 11, 1981

Part 3

Billy meets the mysterious Vincent Whitaker, who accompanies him to Munich where an ex-client of Whitaker's takes them to Lake Chiemsee. Frau Gruber tells Billy his mother was killed whilst crossing the Hungarian border, along with her own son. But is she telling the truth?

Jan 18, 1981

Part 4

Now in his final term, Billy learns his birth father, Jerry Toff, defected to Britain in 1955 and married, then later divorced, a glass heiress. Along with his best mate Spike and other classmates, he has a run-in with a local motorcycle gang.

Jan 25, 1981

Part 5

An unannounced visit to his father's ex-wife Charlotte in Scotland reveals that Billy has an older half-sister named Pamela. He learns little other than that his father and Charlotte met when he worked as a stable lad on her father's estate.

Feb 4, 1981

Part 6

Billy seeks help to pursue his goal of becoming a professional flautist. Meanwhile, a runaway family take refuge in his seaside cottage.

Feb 8, 1981

Part 7

Billy visits France where he learns more about his parents and helps his hosts' son fulfill a family tradition.

Feb 11, 1981

Part 8

Spike arrives unexpectedly. Billy offers to put him up for the night, causing friction between him and Mr Whitaker.

Feb 15, 1981

Part 9

Frau Gruber sends Billy his father's ring, prompting him to return to Lake Chemsee for answers. However, she will only tell him that the search for his natural father only spells peril.

Feb 18, 1981

Part 10

Billy befriends a teenage runaway who stays the night with him at his seaside cottage. Meanwhile, Mr Whitaker receives an unexpected home visit from Miss Price.

Feb 22, 1981

Part 11

An unannounced visit by Mrs Dalgleish, originally from Hungary but now the colourful and wealthy widow of a financial tycoon, affords a few more details about Billy's birth parents.

Feb 25, 1981

Part 12

Mar 1, 1981

Part 13

In Salzburg to audition for a music scholarship, Billy finds himself followed by Hilda Gruber. Instructed to kill him, she chooses instead to tell him that it was his father who died fleeing Hungary, not Karl Gruber.

Mar 4, 1981