The first episode introduces Wilkins Micawber, an impoverished man suffering a run of bad fortune and constantly struggling to provide for his wife and four children, yet a kind-hearted fellow who dresses and speaks like a gentleman and is always looking on the bright side of life, even when a ruthless money-lender sends a violent ex-convict demanding money with menaces. Eventually the family earn a spot of money by taking in a dramatist as their lodger, prompting Micawber to tell his house guest all about his early life - leading to a series of flashbacks that reveal how and why he came to be in such a woeful position. Co-starring Annabelle Apsion as Micawber's long-suffering wife Emma, with Mark Benton, Jamie Foreman and Adrian Hood.