Touch and Go 1955

Jim Fletcher Jack Hawkins is a practical furniture designer who quits his job after a sharp argument with a work superior, convinced that England has limited prospects and determined to seek a fresh start in Australia for his family.

His wife, Helen Fletcher Margaret Johnston, and their children react with mixed enthusiasm, while Jim presses ahead with the emigration plan, focused on a brighter future on the far side of the world.

The journey isn’t easy: practical and bureaucratic hurdles continually threaten to derail the project, testing everyone’s patience and resolve. Jim also faces the steady opposition of his in-laws, adding to the mounting stress as he begins to miss the routine of his old job and questions whether Australia is truly the right move.

Still, the family persists, and the snags gradually loosen their grip, until a firm departure date is finally set. Then, just two days before they are due to leave, their daughter Peggy Fletcher June Thorburn meets and instantly falls in love with her ideal man after he rescues the family cat, Heathcliff.

That encounter sparks a powerful period of heart-searching for every member of the family. They must decide whether to go ahead with emigration as planned or pause to consider what such a change would mean, especially as a delay arises because of the missing Heathcliff. In weighing duty, dreams, and family bonds, the Fletchers navigate a delicate balance between hope for a new life abroad and the ties that might keep them rooted at home.