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Season 7

27 episodes

E1 Terror

1987-11-0540 min

How three people's lives were permanently affected by the TWA plane hi-jack.

E2 Girls Apart

1987-11-1240 min

Two South African school-girls, one black, one white - their contrasting attitudes and lives.

E3 Love at First Sight

1987-11-1940 min

Five couples describe what happened when they first met - and the long-term consequences.

E4 Poor Man's Eton

1987-11-2640 min

The only inner London Education Authority boarding school, in a Suffolk country house.

E5 East Side Story

1987-12-0340 min

Two contrasting 26-year-olds in London's newly-developing Docklands.

E6 The Case of Sherlock Holmes

1987-12-1040 min

Tim Piggot-Smith investigates the famous sleuth of 221b Baker Street.

E7 Party Time

1987-12-1740 min

Seven entertaining parties.

E8 Catch a Fallen Star

1987-12-2340 min

A portrait of the once-famous British singer, dancer and film star, Jesse Matthews.

E9 Convictions

1988-01-0740 min

E10 If You Love Him, Let Him Go

1988-01-1440 min

Dilemmas faced by parents of mentally handicapped offspring who reach childhood and independence.

E11 Jackpot

1988-01-2140 min

Three young adults addicted to gambling on fruit machines, with disastrous results.

E12 Scarfe's Follies

1988-01-2840 min

Scarfe's Follies with Bob Geldof, Jane Asher, Terry Jones, Ian McKellen, Robin Bailey, Julian Glover, Marcia Warren, John Bird, John Challis, John Watts, Nellie the elephant and Ivy the camel. Gerald Scarfe records the follies of man in his cartoons. Now he wants to create his own folly. But what are follies - and why did eccentrics build them? Surrounded by high-kicking follies girls and borne by noble beasts, Scarfe sets off on a quest of discovery. He encounters a naughty vicar who built a folly garden for his gypsy girlfriend; a Welshman who burned his own son; a politician who got voters drunk; a man whose house resembles a jungle; and 'Mad Jack' Fuller, who built a steeple overnight to win a wager, and was buried in a pyramid with a bottle of port and a cold chicken. And as all the best follies contained a resident hermit, Scarfe advertises for one in the Times - with startling results.

E13 Thames Wallah

1988-02-0440 min

A specialist with the Thames Water Authority attempts to clean up the Ganges.

E14 Changing Places

1988-02-1140 min

Ten pupils from an independent public school (Rugby) and a state comprehensive school (Ruffwood) exchange places and lives.

E15 Diary of a Frontliner

1988-02-1840 min

A self-operated video camera was set up in Peter Tilson's home to record a personal diary in his battle with AIDS.

E16 Annie Doesn't Work Here Any More

1988-02-2540 min

Annie, a nurse from Manchester, leaves the NHS to set up a new life as a nurse in Los Angeles.

E17 The Great North Road

1988-03-0340 min

Lucinda Lambton travels along the Great North Road, the backbone of Britain that links London to Edinburgh, discovering many weird and wonderful delights en route.

E18 I, Alison...

1988-03-1040 min

The story of a remarkable young woman. It's Alison French's wedding day. She's 24 - vivacious, candid, attractive, with a warm smile and a lively sense of humour. Alison, professionally qualified as a youth worker, is marrying Mark John. What makes her wedding different is that she's an athetoid spastic - her body's never still, and she has difficulty with her speech. Seven years ago, 40 Minutes made an acclaimed film about Alison, telling of her bid to gain independence in the able-bodied world. Tonight's follow-up is a passionate love story. But in marrying the man she loves, Alison has to leave her family in Watford, set up a new home in South Wales, and adapt to being a clergyman's wife. Her heart is still set on finding an independent job. The harsh reality is that despite her skills and rare qualities, she may face rejection. But Alison doesn't give up easily...

E19 Children of the Open Road

1988-03-1740 min

Catrine Clay presents the disturbing story of gypsy children abducted from their parents in clean and ordered Switzerland.

E20 Five Go to Florida

1988-03-2440 min

Perhaps the last holiday for a group of children, some of whom are gravely ill. They fulfil their dream of visiting Disney World.

E21 Who Will Love Billy?

1988-04-0740 min

A 13-year-old boy hopes to be adopted by Dave, a single man of 42 - but things go wrong.

E22 Who Needs a Machine Gunner?

1988-04-1440 min

Long-term unemployment in rural Herefordshire.

E23 Women in Black

1988-04-2140 min

Three widows at different stages of their recovery.

E24 My African Farm

1988-04-2840 min

An old white woman colonial settler staying on in up-country Kenya.

E25 Separate Tables

1988-05-0540 min

An old-fashioned sea-side hotel, with many retired residents, is to be refurbished. The residents must go.

E26 Waiting

1988-05-1240 min

Two people are waiting on an NHS hospital waiting list - one for a minor operation, the other for a major one.

E27 Mixed Blessings

1988-05-1940 min

The story of a mix-up in a Nottingham nursing-home. Margaret Wheeler and Blanche Rylatt each gave birth to a baby girl on the same day. Margaret is convinced that she was given the wrong baby.