Three very different girls sign up as trainee nurses at a big London teaching hospital in 1934. Dora leaves her overcrowded, squalid working-class home for a better life. But has she got what it takes to keep up with other, better-educated girls? And will her hated stepfather ever let her go? Helen is born for the job; her brother is a doctor, her all-powerful mother a hospital trustee. But will Helen’s secret misery be her downfall? An aristocratic rebel, Millie’s carefree attitude will find her up in front of Matron again and again. Will she ever care enough to make a nurse? Or will she go back to the glamorous life she was born to?

Hull, 1940. Widowed Edie Copeland has just arrived on Exchange Street, heavily pregnant and with heavy suitcase in tow. She left York after tragedy struck to make a fresh start, but she's a stranger to this street, and her new landlord doesn't hesitate to remind her of this, widow or not. Luckily, the neighbours are a little more welcoming and Edie is soon made to feel at home by the Maguires and the Scuttles. As air raids sound and the war feels closer than ever, the community has to stick together. But Edie is hiding something, and she doesn't know how much longer her secret is safe.

West Yorkshire, 1926. After completing her training in Steeple Street, Agnes is looking forward to making her mark as the village's first district nurse, confident she can make a difference in the locals' lives. But when she arrives, she's treated with suspicion, labelled just another servant of the wealthy mine owners. The locals would much rather place their trust in the resident healer, Nella Black.

Welcome to the district nurses' home on Steeple Street, where everyone has a secret.... Ambitious young nurse Agnes Sheridan had a promising future ahead of her until a tragic mistake cost her the love and respect of everyone around her. Now she has come to Leeds for a fresh start as a trainee district nurse. But Agnes finds herself facing unexpected challenges as she is assigned to Quarry Hill, one of the city's most notorious slums.

It's 1957, and three young women are beginning their nursing training at the Florence Nightingale Hospital in London's East End. Winne desperately wants to win her mother's approval - but will following in her footsteps and becoming a nurse help? Tearaway Viv has never been one to follow the rules, though the Nightingale may help her mend her ways. Beth is following her late sister's dream by training as a nurse. Will it be the right path for her? There's a steep learning curve ahead. But with friendship on their side, the Nightingale Daughters are ready to rise to the challenge.

When duty calls, East End girl Minnie Wolton isn’t afraid to do her bit. She’s excited to be joining the ATS girls and although she knows life at the barracks will be tough, she’s not one to quit! She just hopes the other girls are all good sorts. With her husband away fighting, Eileen Ruffel is glad of the break from her unhappy marriage. She just wants to make a success of the ATS girls and maybe find happiness too. Along with the other girls, Minnie and Eileen strike up a firm friendship. The training is hard, but they are determined to prove they are the best new recruits.

In a village in Wiltshire, just off a busy road, Larch Tree Lane winds slowly up a low hill. Among the residents is Maggie Hatherall, full of life despite her advancing years, who worries what she is going to do with her 200-year-old home. Lucia Grey has escaped a bad marriage but her ex is reluctant to let her start a new life free of him. And for architect Corin Drayton, an unexpected inheritance is the start of a complicated family wrangle. From the cottages and farms to the local shop, pub and old manor house, the residents' lives are set to intertwine and relationships bloom.

Lady Joanna Harcourt and her daughter, Sarah, discover their life of luxury at Goodwill House is over. Because with Lord Harcourt away fighting, the Harcourt girls are facing financial ruin. Lady Joanna is terrified of losing their home, but for Sarah, this means her dreams of becoming a doctor are over. Headstrong Sarah isn’t one to quit! War or not, she’s determined to find a way to save her home and follow her dreams - whatever it takes.

London, 1939. When tragedy strikes, Libby Andrews is left homeless and destitute, fending for herself on the capital's most dangerous streets. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Libby is on the cusp of making a decision that could jeopardise her future when a local boy saves her from ruin. The kindness of this stranger sets her on a different path, and Libby heads to Liverpool with a determined mind and hope in her heart. There, she reconnects with long lost family - but will she be able to uncover the truth that tore them apart all those years ago?

London, 1941. The Blitz. When a Royal Navy memo arrives at head office, requesting female recruits to sign up as motorcycle dispatch riders, delivering highly classified orders across the country, three women jump at the chance to sign up for the most dangerous jobs in London.

In February, 1922, at the western-most entrance to Victoria Station in Manchester, a massive plaque was unveiled. Beneath a vast tiled map showing the lines of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway network, a series of seven bronze panels recorded the names of the men of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War - a total of 1,460 names. In March, 1940, a group of women of varying ages and backgrounds stands in front of the memorial, ready to do its bit in this new World War.... 

1940, Liverpool: Alice Turner and her best friend, Millie Markham, work for the war effort at Rootes munitions factory, making shell caps and Halifax bombers. Alice’s sweetheart, Terry, is home from the front for a brief period of leave. But the honeymoon is soon over. Terry must go back to the dangers of Nazi-occupied France, and the ever-present air raid sirens quickly bring Alice back down to earth. 

At the heart of Dover's Market Square lies the Castle's Café. A bustling, homely place run by the formidable Nellie Castle and her six children. Since the scandalous birth of her beloved son 10 years before, Marianne, Nellie's eldest daughter, has preferred to stay in the kitchen, hidden away from the town gossips. Overcome with shame, Marianne has never revealed the name of Donny's father - not even to her own mother. But with World War II just around the corner, Marianne's past catches up with her. And suddenly the lives of the Castle family become a lot more complicated.

It is 1937, and Alice, Edith and Marg continue to face hardships every day, growing up on one of the poorest streets in Blackpool. Penniless, their friendship has helped them survive this far, but it'll take more than that to see them through the dark days ahead. Alice is coping with a violent father. Marg is left reeling after a dark secret about her birth comes to light and threatens to destroy the life she knows, and Edith is fighting to protect her alcoholic mother from the shame of their neighbours and keep her brother on the straight and narrow. 

Bristol 1936. Jenny Crawford has resigned herself to a loveless marriage living hand to mouth with their two children. Like many others, husband Roy struggles to find work at the docks but a chance encounter turns the family's fortunes around. Not only does he get regular work but they are also allocated a council house on Coronation Close on the outskirts of the city. Jenny and the children are overjoyed, this is the fresh start she could only ever dream of. But trouble feels never too far away.