Season 1

The first season of Times of Passion ran from September 1980 to March 1981. It consisted of 15 episodes – the fewest number of any season.

Overview
Maggie Banks returns to her hometown of Port Winston to investigate her mother's murder. Soon, she suspects the rich Henderson family, led by ruthless couple Vivienne and Rudy. She infiltrates the family, but falls in love with Rudy's brother Richard. At the same time, she struggles to fit in with her old life – including former best friend Irene and her husband Vernon and most of all Doris, her estranged sister. With love, intrigue and deception, there is a lot in store for Maggie and the people of Port Winston.

Plot
Maggie returns to Port Winston after her mother’s death and soon discovers it has been a murder. She is set on solving the mystery and stays in town – especially after her husband cheats on her. When she takes up a job in the Henderson estates, she falls in love with Richard. She has a hard time fitting in in her home town that she left so long ago and reconnecting with Irene and most of all her sister Doris. Her kids feel like outsiders at first, but soon fit in seamlessly, prompting Maggie to accept her new home as well.

Vivienne and Bernie plan to build a hotel complex in Port Winston. They don’t have enough money – but a shady investor is interested in helping them. His one condition was that they have the entire land – that’s why they needed Martha’s property. They get Rudy into the business and pretend to only have gotten the offer after Martha’s death, so the two things can’t be connected. Rudy agrees and invites the investor, Nikolai Varynov, to their mansion. They all want to keep it secret from Richard, however, because of his relationship with Maggie. But Maggie recognizes Nikolai from one of her husband’s shady business deals and alerts Richard.

Richard confronts Rudy and Vivienne, and they let him in on the secret. But Vivienne blackmails him with a secret from his past, somehow connected to the name Alfie. He is shocked and promises to not tell Maggie.

Irene and Vernon struggle with the financial situation of their pub – and then Vernon’s mother Lois breaks her leg and has to move in with them, further straining their situation. Vernon criticizes that Irene supports Maggie financially and is physically absent in the pub because of that. Irene insists that helping her friend is important, but she soon faces the face that her marriage may not be as happy as she thought it to be. Her good friend Stephen Knight, the town physician, is feeling the loss of his wife and makes advances that she is flattered by at first. After a kiss, she can’t bring herself to cheat on Vernon and decides to keep it on a friendship level with Stephen.

Doris hasn’t made peace with Maggie yet. She is in a relationship with mayor Bernie and is set on getting Maggie out of town as soon as possible – she even sells her part of the property and the house that belonged to Martha. But as the time progresses, she grows suspicious of Bernie’s actions. She ultimately reveals his illegal actions to Vivienne, who knows already and uses the information to blame it all on him. In an explosive season finale, Bernie takes Doris, Maggie and Alexa hostage, but is eventually overpowered by Vernon. Bernie tries to shoot Maggie, but Doris throws herself in front of her sister and is mildly injured. The two make peace and Vernon and Irene agree to give their marriage another shot.

Michael and Aria­nna have a secret relationship, but can’t make it public because of their social differences. Michael soon gets the feeling that Arianna is ashamed of him. He decides to quit his job at his parent’s pub to work at the estates, but Vivienne won’t hire him. Arianna takes him back, though, and the two share their first time. She promises to make their love public, and he returns the next day, blessed. However, he is informed that she has left the town for England – and she knew this weeks before, leaving him heartbroken.

Main characters

 * Arianna Henderson
 * Bernie Cooper
 * Doris Stoneham
 * Irene Erwin
 * Lois Erwin
 * Maggie Banks
 * Michael Erwin
 * Richard Henderson
 * Rudy Henderson
 * Vernon Erwin
 * Vivienne Henderson

Recurring characters

 * Stephen Knight
 * Carl King
 * Maryann King
 * Alexa Banks
 * Marcus Banks
 * Leo Erwin
 * Danielle Knight
 * Brendon Henderson
 * Cornelia Henderson
 * Nikolai Varynov