Language and scripting

Laura and her family are at the community centre to listen to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s address to Indigenous people apologising for decades of government policy that allowed children to be stolen from their families. However, Laura is more concerned with the apology she needs to make to Michaelis.

Mohammed's family is moving into their new house, owned by Michaelis. It is nearing Ramadan and at mealtime the family is discussing whether Mohammed can participate this year.

Mohammed and Danielle are discussing the fact that she can't play on the boys' cricket team. While Mohammed and his family are moving into the new house, Michaelis and Omar discuss why playing cricket is more important than playing soccer, which leads to a play-off for the rent money.

Mohammed and his father discuss playing soccer, but Mohammed is not convinced he wants to take up the sport. His grandmother replays Shane Warne bowling a leg break to English batsman Mike Gatting during the 1993 Ashes series. They discuss the 'Magnus effect', which causes the ball to spin.

Lily is taking her cousin, Phoung, to her school with her for the first time. Lily and her friends believe that Phoung can't speak English and they discuss what it means to be Australian.

Lily and her friends are painting the school sign for the Bicentenary when she tells her cousin, Phoung, a false story about how convicts were treated in early Australia. Phoung repeats this story to the class as part of a report on the First Fleet.

Mike discusses the validity of a Datsun as a 'muscle car' with his friend Ben. He visits the 'Tippy' to acquire some spare parts that Ben has requested and is introduced to the 1971 Ford GT-HO that the Tippy is remodelling.

Sofia and her friend Mareka are watching Professor Julius Sumner Miller's television science show, Why is it so? Janice arrives and meets Sofia's mother and grandmother. She needs Sofia to translate the conversation and Sofia deliberately tells each party the wrong translation.

Michaelis's father and friends are celebrating the birth of the baby in a traditional Greek way. The boys next door, who had bullied Michaelis and called him a 'wog', apologise and pay him a penny to replace his lost ice-cream. Janice shows her affection for Michaelis.

The dole inspector is a feared authority in the neighbourhood where Colum and his family live. When the alarm is given that he is on his way, the families hide any evidence of making a living. The dole inspector could enter the homes of people receiving the dole and tell them to leave their house or sell their belongings.

The Shadow is a famous a comic character, popular at this time with children. The character and his adventures were made into a radio play, which was broadcast as a serial each week. Colum and Thommo are calculating how much they need to win on the Melbourne Cup to guarantee that Thommo's family will not be evicted from their home.

Colum and Thommo are collecting bets from their neighbours on horses in the 1938 Melbourne Cup. They present these bets to Mr O'Sullivan, the local shopkeeper. Colum and Thommo hope to win big in order to save Thommo's family from eviction.

It is the day of Lorna's funeral and the procession to the cemetery is commencing. It is a tradition to celebrate the life of the deceased person by holding a 'wake'. During this sombre celebration, Bridie tries to console her sister with the help of Miss Miller.

Bertie is trying to pay off the last shilling owing on his present for his brother Eddie who is returning home after serving in the First World War. Mr Watson, the store owner, will not advance him a loan. Bertie goes to the repatriation hospital to bring his mother (a nurse) fresh goat's milk, and shares jokes with his friends Sid and Mr Bracey who are both returned soldiers.

Evelyn, Bertie's sister, receives news of the death of Freddie Miller. Bertie laments the death of his father and Freddie; both killed in the war. He tells Sid, an Aboriginal soldier, about his plan to buy his brother Eddie a present on his return from the war and they devise a plan to raise the money to purchase the gift.

Rowley is working to complete his 1,000 good deeds so that his father will return to the family. He collects horse manure for the market gardeners and firewood for the laundress. He and his friend, Tom Müller, climb the tree to spy on the private school students who are practising to become soldiers.

Alexandra's father is talking with his Irish tradesman who is instructing him to hide a dead cat in the roof of the house for luck. Victoria calls her father for dinner. At dinner, Victoria's mother is talking about her 'at home' invitation and who has accepted. She pauses to check Miss Müller's arrival and comments on the appropriateness of her work.

Miss Müller is picked up by the newly furbished horse and carriage owned by the Müller Horse & Carriage Company. Victoria follows the carriage until Miss Müller is let off at the cemetery. Victoria runs into the Irish tradesman and learns that her father is having financial difficulties. This is also confirmed when she arrives home to hear her parents arguing.

Victoria and her siblings design a spell to ensure the family doesn't have to leave the house. They hide eight treasured objects around the house to ward off bad omens.

Franklin and Henry invent 'The spoon cranking dough churner', which explodes when they fail to take into account the fact that dough expands when heated.

Minna and her friend Adelaide visit Mr Wong's residence to give him some news about the change to a local law regarding Chinese migration. Mr Wong shows them a magic lantern that projects images of his family.

Minna and her friend Adelaide steal Mr Wong's lantern from his house. They use the lantern to frighten the neighbourhood boys by projecting an image onto the tent the boys are spending the night in.

Minna and Adelaide confess to stealing the lantern after Mr Owen refuses to return it to Mr Wong. Minna's father has her make amends for her transgression by working for Mr Wong - a punishment that Mr Owen finds inappropriate.

Ben and Leck work together to repair Mr Owen's broken clock. Leck corrects Ben on the truth behind the ugly stereotype he learnt from Mr Wilson.

Johanna carries out a variety of chores around town. While delivering vegetables, she overhears a piece of gossip about her father. The local boys tease and attack her because of her bright-red hair.

Johanna reads a letter from her uncle to her grandmother. She plays a practical joke on one of the Owen boys by putting a frog in his chamber-pot. Johanna and her grandmother visit the grave of her mother. Johanna asks about who her father was.

Johanna asks a number of locals about her father but is concerned by the inconsistencies in the information she receives. When she confronts her grandmother about her father, she is given just one enigmatic fact. Johanna's aunt dresses her down for her pranks.

While out walking Duchess, Davey and Alice witness a bushranger on the run from some local soldiers, and they misdirect the soldiers to ensure his swift escape. Davey is confronted by the Owen boys who tease him about the imminent fate of Duchess.

Davey is on the run with Duchess but has his preconceptions about bushrangers challenged when he witnesses them shooting Mr Owen and stealing from him.

Alice is training her piglet Wilhelmina for the pig race but is unable to convince any of the local workers to bet any money on her. Freddie the bookie is concerned at the thought of losing money as most of the locals have bet on Oink, the favourite.

Unlike his posh older brother John, Charles is enjoying building a fence on the farm. At the end of the fence line he encounters Liam, a convict who is on the run. Liam asks Charles to bring him some food and boots.

Charles' mother educates him on the difference between Sarah and 'a lady'. Charles steals some of his mother's clothes in order to create a disguise for Liam but is surprised when Liam uses the disguise to gatecrash Sarah's wedding.

Sarah is dropped off at her new place of employment but makes a poor first impression on her new employer, Mrs Owen. While doing her chores she meets Mrs Owen's sickly daughter Alice.

After their outdoor adventure, Sarah and Alice have a moment of companionship but it is quickly ruined when Alice exerts her power over Sarah's position.

Sam is escorted to the Owen farm as an assigned convict by two soldiers. Mr Owen introduces him to his chores and living quarters. He then meets the farm's goat, but is less than truthful about his experience with milking.

Sam enters Mr Owen's house through a hole in the roof, and is amazed when he sees his reflection for the first time. After failing to milk the goat, Sam has a difficult night's sleep on his new bed. He uses his ingenuity to dig hard ground.

Sam is out looking for the farm's goat when he hears someone humming the same notes as he is singing. Following the sounds, he is guided back to the farm, where the goat is waiting. After leaving out some milk to thank an Aboriginal boy for leading him to the goat, his bucket is returned.

Waruwi encounters a cow for the first time and is unsure what to make of it. After seeing some marines and a drummer boy, she returns home to Nana to tell her about the 'ghost people' and the cow.

Waruwi takes Dan's boots while he is in the water but does not find them to be very comfortable. Observing the camp of the marines, Waruwi is fascinated by one of their musical instruments.

Dan prepares to endure a flogging after disobeying orders and leaving his post. However, his punishment is abandoned after Waruwi appears with a puppy for the governor.