Entertainment and games

Mohammed and Danielle are discussing the fact that she can't play on the boys' cricket team. While Mohammed and his family are moving into the new house, Michaelis and Omar discuss why playing cricket is more important than playing soccer, which leads to a play-off for the rent money.

Mohammed and his father discuss playing soccer, but Mohammed is not convinced he wants to take up the sport. His grandmother replays Shane Warne bowling a leg break to English batsman Mike Gatting during the 1993 Ashes series. They discuss the 'Magnus effect', which causes the ball to spin.

Mike needs to borrow $50 in order to buy the carburettor that Ben's brother needs for his performance car. But no one in the family will lend him the money even though he is prepared to sell his beloved card collection.

Michaelis tells Sofia why he is going to the Vietnam War even though he doesn't want to go. They discuss what it may be like and his fears are evident.

Attendance at Greek school is a common expectation for young Greek children in Australia. Michaelis is attending Greek school to learn about the history, language and culture of his ancestry, but his mind is still on the escapades of The Adventures of Robin Hood, a TV serial he is fixated on.

Jen and her friends are at the 'pictures' watching a newsreel that includes an announcement of the birth of Prince Charles. In the cinema foyer the girls steal a movie poster of Prince Philip, the husband of Princess Elizabeth (who would later become Queen Elizabeth II). The girls discuss the importance of 'handsomeness' and Jen tells them the prince looks like her father, who died in the war.

Wal visits Jen's mother to take her to the pictures in his new FJ Holden. Jen is unaware of the affections between her mother and Wal. When Wal gives Jen's mother a kiss goodnight, Jen becomes suspicious.

The Shadow is a famous a comic character, popular at this time with children. The character and his adventures were made into a radio play, which was broadcast as a serial each week. Colum and Thommo are calculating how much they need to win on the Melbourne Cup to guarantee that Thommo's family will not be evicted from their home.

Colum and Thommo are collecting bets from their neighbours on horses in the 1938 Melbourne Cup. They present these bets to Mr O'Sullivan, the local shopkeeper. Colum and Thommo hope to win big in order to save Thommo's family from eviction.

Bridie's family is having breakfast and discussing what they will do that day. Her father and brother are going to work at the brickworks, her mother will be cleaning floors for neighbours, and Bridie and her older sister Kath are expected to look after baby Colum and do chores around the house. Bridie spies on Kath and her friend Lorna as they plan to get away from their responsibilities and have a picnic by the river.

Evelyn, her brother Edward and their friend Freddie Müller are playing an imaginary game under the tree. They are pretending to be tiger hunters in India. Miss Müller tells them about tigers and their inability to reverse down trees. Evelyn's father brings home the Mr Wong's 'No. 5' assortment of fireworks to be used on cracker night.

Victoria and her siblings are playing 'blind man's bluff' at the tree. She finds a marble which is claimed by her neighbour, Alexandra Owen, who lives in the big house. Victoria's family is building a new house but that is no match for Alexandra's family who have lived in this place for a long time.

Victoria and her siblings design a spell to ensure the family doesn't have to leave the house. They hide eight treasured objects around the house to ward off bad omens.

Henry and his friend Franklin experiment with a hot air balloon. After blowing up his schoolhouse with an experimental self-lighting candle, Henry is expelled from school. He goes to work in his uncle's saddlery.

Minna and some of her friends play the game 'Bloody Mary' and scare each other with stories about what she is like. After Minna breaks their mirror, she decides to give the neighbourhood boys a fright by crawling under their house and making strange noises.

Minna and her friend Adelaide steal Mr Wong's lantern from his house. They use the lantern to frighten the neighbourhood boys by projecting an image onto the tent the boys are spending the night in.

Johanna asks a number of locals about her father but is concerned by the inconsistencies in the information she receives. When she confronts her grandmother about her father, she is given just one enigmatic fact. Johanna's aunt dresses her down for her pranks.

Mr Owen has Davey demonstrate whip cracking to his grandsons but then gives Davey some sad news about his favourite horse, Duchess. Despite Davey's protestations, Duchess is headed for the tannery.

Alice and her family are delivering food to the indentured convicts working at the stone quarry when they have the idea of organising a pig race for the half-day holiday.

Alice is training her piglet Wilhelmina for the pig race but is unable to convince any of the local workers to bet any money on her. Freddie the bookie is concerned at the thought of losing money as most of the locals have bet on Oink, the favourite.

Freddie tells Alice about his forging history while they paint a piglet black. They then switch it with George's piglet Benny in order to fix the race. When Alice awakes she's shocked to find there is something wrong with Wilhelmina.