Michael Rolfe

Stan McVay has given up smoking, gone on a diet and feels like hell. He's also abandoned the Ulster spud and learned that his teenage daughter is having an affair with a married man.

Jill has everything; a successful career, four close, if somewhat exotic, friends (her 'family') and a live-in lover. They provide for all her needs including, eventually, a baby. But that is where reality sets in.

'When I was your age I wanted to go to Italy more than anything in the world ... old buildings .. , sunlight. Blue skies ... the air full of the sound of bells in the morning and at dusk.' A mother, waiting for a visit through a hospital day, looks back on her life. Dreams haunt her, fantasies seduce her, memories crowd in on her, distorting the drab reality of her day to day existence. Must her daughter follow in her footsteps? How can she find a way to guide her towards a brighter future?

' They're mortal enemies, we just hate each other. So surely if they can agree about the destiny of mankind, we can save our quartet from the knacker's yard.' July 1945: The Potsdam Conference. 16 km south of war-devastated Berlin, Stalin, Truman, Churchill and Attlee are met to determine the shape of the new Europe. Having exchanged their white tie and tails for air force blue, an internationally famous string quartet waits to entertain the men of destiny. i When you're dividing up the world you need a little background music ... '

Stan McVay has given up smoking, gone on a diet and feels like hell. He's also abandoned the Ulster spud and learned that his teenage daughter is having an affair with a married man.

Jill has everything; a successful career, four close, if somewhat exotic, friends (her 'family') and a live-in lover. They provide for all her needs including, eventually, a baby. But that is where reality sets in.

'When I was your age I wanted to go to Italy more than anything in the world ... old buildings .. , sunlight. Blue skies ... the air full of the sound of bells in the morning and at dusk.' A mother, waiting for a visit through a hospital day, looks back on her life. Dreams haunt her, fantasies seduce her, memories crowd in on her, distorting the drab reality of her day to day existence. Must her daughter follow in her footsteps? How can she find a way to guide her towards a brighter future?

' They're mortal enemies, we just hate each other. So surely if they can agree about the destiny of mankind, we can save our quartet from the knacker's yard.' July 1945: The Potsdam Conference. 16 km south of war-devastated Berlin, Stalin, Truman, Churchill and Attlee are met to determine the shape of the new Europe. Having exchanged their white tie and tails for air force blue, an internationally famous string quartet waits to entertain the men of destiny. i When you're dividing up the world you need a little background music ... '