If Only – Series 1 Episode 3 (2003)

A series of ‘if only’ stories from a range of lives: a young single mother who found and then lost her birth mother, a woman who recalls the years of misery she suffered at the hands of the school bully whom she’s now gotten to know and like, and the Sudanese refugee to Australia whose life would be complete if only he could find his family.

The four different ‘if only’ moments of this program are sad, funny and searingly honest. The filming style is fast paced and suited to the different characters and manages to pack in a mass of information about each story within a very short amount of time. Having found such terrific characters and heard them tell such fascinating stories, I would have liked to know a whole lot more about each of their lives.