A Year in the Life

As the 2020s dawn, Keith Diamond, the self-styled ‘Diamond Geezer’, works as a shock jock presenter at controversial radio station, ChatFM. When the station comes under new management, Keith finds himself surplus to requirements. His employment prospects look bleak until a stranger gives him a bracelet that catapults him forty years back in time to when he was a young journalist. Soaking up the culture, Keith immerses himself in the music scene, going to see legendary bands like The Clash, Blondie, and The Specials, but soon there are more important tasks at hand.

Fancy a trip back in time to 1981? Then join Nick Taylor as he gets the opportunity of a lifetime to relive a whole year of his life. 1981 wasn't a year Nick remembered fondly. His mother was killed in a plane crash, his father ran off with the babysitter, and he was sent to possibly the most horrible school in the world. 2020 ends on a similar note when that babysitter, now his stepmother, can't be bothered to tell him his father is dying until it is too late and then promptly disinherits him.

In 1982, Wendy Wood was poised on the brink of stardom. Lead singer with talented local band, Velvet Temptation, she was a rising star of the Oxford music scene. Tipped for fame by the music press, success seemed inevitable. But conflict within the band, a series of betrayals and infidelities, and an unwelcome run of bad luck all played a part in shattering her dreams.

At 59, Jenna Rae is one of the last born-and-bred residents of Pencarven, a small settlement on Cornwall’s rugged north coast. Forty years ago, it was a traditional fishing village, cherished by locals and holidaymakers alike. But since then, it’s been transformed into an exclusive retreat for the wealthy, stripping away everything Jenna once held dear. Offered the chance to return to 1983, Jenna sees an opportunity to rewrite the future – and fight for Pencarven’s heritage.

Robin “Nobby” Clarke is a lifelong gambler who has frittered away his life on cards and horses. With the next race or turn of the card taking priority over all else, he never found time for a career, a wife, or children. Now, it seems too late, until the chance comes to rewind the clock to when he was just 20 years old.

England, 1985: Sent back in time to the year he lost everything, Robbie James is determined to turn the tables on the man who stole his future. In 2024, Robbie James is a brilliant IT developer who has just created an AI so advanced it can improve itself without human help. The result? He’s engineered himself out of a job. The man handing him his cards is Toby Fleming, a lifelong thorn in his side. So when Robbie is offered the chance to travel back forty years in time, he’s eager to settle the score. In 1985, teenage Robbie finds himself back at Splat!

Surrey, 1986: Sent back in time after a lifetime trapped in a loveless marriage, Lucy Hart is determined to find the courage to take back control of her life. In 2025, reeling from the death of her husband, Lucy must face the truth that she has wasted forty-five years with a man who never truly loved her. At his funeral, shocking revelations come to light, including affairs, a secret love child, and a will that tears her family apart. Given the chance to return to the past, Lucy finds herself back in 1986, with two small children and a husband whose ambitions leave no room for hers.

Worcestershire, 1987: When cash-strapped Vale Television, the smallest station on the ITV network, goes bust, Victoria Bloom sees her career come to a crashing halt. Forty years later, happily retired, Vicky reminisces with her granddaughter as they watch a show she once worked on, now repeated on a nostalgia TV channel. Later, when a stranger offers her the chance to revisit the past, Vicky returns to the start of the year when it all went wrong.