Diane, a young woman growing up in Australia in the mid 1960s, walks away from her fiancé to join a convent after being sure she has a calling to the faith. The Catholic Church and its followers are struggling with huge changes. The Pope has died, there is war in Vietnam and mandatory conscription, there is the Vatican controversy on abortion and contraception, and the changing face of the Church as a whole. Told in six parts, Diane faces her own demons and has to finally decide if she can teach what the Church preaches, or if it's simply impossible for her to reconcile all the contradictions of the faith and uphold her vow of obedience.
Diane (Episode 1)
Writer: John Alsop
Air date: 1991-09-04
Runtime: 55 min
Overview: Diane is due to be married but unsure of her feelings for her husband to be and her strong feelings of faith, she shocks her family by deciding to enter the Santo Spirito convent as a postulant.
Frances (Episode 2)
Writer: John Alsop
Air date: 1991-09-11
Runtime: 55 min
Overview: New to the school and coming from a broken home, Frances struggles to find friends, and a place in the stratified world of boarding school.
Ambrose (Episode 3)
Writer: John Alsop
Air date: 1991-09-18
Runtime: 55 min
Overview: Vatican II causes turmoil in the Order with its instructions for change and simplification within the Church. A lay teacher arrives at the convent.
Rosemary (Episode 4)
Air date: 1991-09-25
Runtime: 55 min
Overview: Rosemary, a student at the convent school, struggles with her own awakening independence and education about her sexuality, from which she has been sheltered.
Paul (Episode 5)
Air date: 1991-10-02
Runtime: 55 min
Overview: Sister Paul is a born teacher who joined the convent at 18 and is happy in her vocation. At 24 she goes home to attend a family wedding and meets up with radical priest, Jack Delahunty, who changes her life.
Catherine (Episode 6)
Writer: John Alsop
Air date: 1991-10-09
Runtime: 55 min
Overview: While Mother Ambrose is in Rome, Agnes is in charge. She asks Catherine to teach the official line against contraception and Catherine begins to find the compromises she is forced to make as a nun almost overwhelming.
