Episode One

As a young boy Magnus Pym sees his father Rick (Ray McAnally) imprisoned for embezzlement and his mother Dorothy (Caroline John) hospitalised by the stress. Magnus fakes a fit in order to escape the abusive uncle and alcoholic aunt with whom he has been sent to live. He is rescued from hospital by his recently released father who subsequently takes him along on the con of an elderly lady. Magnus is sent to boarding school after his father is conscripted where staff and students disapprove of the flashy "business man". Rick returns from the war a wealthy man and involves Magnus in a plan to defraud the bomb damage compensation fund. One night Magnus is hazed by a group of boys led by his "friend" Sefton Boyd and in revenge he tags the boy's initials on the wall of the staff toilet.