On a fine May afternoon, the beautiful and innocent Tess Durbeyfield spies a handsome young stranger at a village dance, but he ignores her.

Second in the four-part drama series based on the novel by Thomas Hardy. Tess returns home in confusion and shame after being seduced by her manipulative `cousin' Alec D'Urberville. Her baby, whom she christens Sorrow, is a sickly child, but Tess finds work on a dairy farm where she meets the handsome Angel Clare again. Can he offer her the love and deliverance she craves?

Tess agrees to marry Angel, to his great joy. When he confesses to a dishonourable event in his past, Tess feels that she can at last tell him about her relationship with Alec D'Urberville and its consequences.

Angel has gone to Brazil, leaving Tess to endure a harsh winter on a swede farm. While being relentlessly pursued by Alec, she has written to Angel, pleading with him to return before it is too late. Unfortunately, Angel has been struck down by a dangerous fever, and when Tess's sister arrives with bad news about their father it sparks a chain of misfortunes. Will Tess ever see Angel again and find happiness?