In 1798, young Irish girl Mary Mulvane is convicted of stealing by the British court and sentenced to transportation to Australia. During the journey, she falls for fellow convict Jonathan Garrett, and the pair attempt to start a new life in the brutal penal colony.
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In this opening episode of the television series Against the Wind, Mary Mulvane and her boyfriend Michael are harrassed by British soldiers while out walking. In response to the troops taking over a nearby farm as a supply store, Michael and his mates burn down the house. When the Mulvane family can't pay rent and church tax, the British troops take their cow away as payment. Mary and Michael are discovered as they attempt to retrieve the cow. Michael is shot dead, leaving Mary to stand trial.
The uprising gathers momentum, but the convicts are eventually betrayed. With the British troops too powerful, the uprising fails and retribution begins.
In the final episode in the series, Ensign Greville uses Mrs Wiltshire's affection for him to gain power in the colony. Jonathan is sentenced to six months' jail for writing a letter to the governor exposing the corruption of the overseers, after he refuses to do as the new 'government' orders. Will is still imprisoned after being turned in for his whiskey making.