If Only – Series 1 Episode 10 (2003)

Three individuals tell their ‘if only’ stories of missed opportunities. There’s a troubled girl who went to jail instead of being around her child as she was growing up and the father of a failed marriage who tried to create a dream home for his children. Finally, there’s the sad story of the shipboard romance that didn’t develop into a relationship.

Sometimes these stories of ‘if only’ are almost too sad to watch. In many of them we meet people who are overwhelmed by the past and unable to move ahead with their lives. At other times, we see someone who has faced terrible adversity and come through with a huge inner strength. The program also makes you think of ‘there but for the grace of God … ’ moments of one’s own. It raises the question of how we would fare in similar situations because none of us really know how we would weather a crisis until it happens.