The 1930's: the era of the boogie-woogie, Brylcreem in men's hair, Daks coats and Clark Gable. The time of the industrial strife and the rise of Fascism. Spain was fighting a civil war and Hitler playing mind games with the leaders of Europe.
Amid the turmoil we have a love story, a tentative relationship between two individuals from totally different backgrounds, both attending a prestigious London music academy. The singer, Siân from Cwm Clydach, Rhondda, is there on a scholarship. George, the violinist, comes from a prosperous middle-class London family. Her family are miners; her brother in Spain fighting Franco. His father works in the City and decries 'bolshi miners'. The pair try to bridge chasms of class, culture and politics
They do so against a background of social and military mayhem. In the Rhondda we witness he bombing of Cwmparc, the child evacuees from London. We follow women of the valleys into the giant explosives factory in Bridgend. In London, we hear the sirens and glimpse Siân singing cabaret to servicemen and women at the Criterion. In Spain the International Brigade fight valiantly against the rising tide.
