Barry and Sally Wyatt are at a loss to explain their daughter Laura's behaviour. One day she walks out of school and seemingly disappears, but it soon transpires that she walked out on her own accord. Over the weeks she seems to be afraid to go to school and it gets so bad that eventually the Wyatts decide to take her out of school. A few years pass and now the Wyatts also have a 11 year old son called Michael, who because of their daughter's fears has also never been to school. However, the authorities become concerned about this and what follows is a court case between parents and the state as they decide whether it is better to be home schooled or for Michael to attend state school.
Starring Derrick O'Connor, Rynagh O'Grady, Prudence Oliver, Graham Crowden, Adrian Wagstaff, Martin Duncan, Tim Preece, Maggie Ford, Tim Wylton, Sallyann Law, Alex McCrindle, Christopher Hancock, Lee Hudson, Joanna Phillips-Lane, Catherine Owen and Frank Mills. This was originally broadcast on June 26th 1983 and is one of the videos I happened to save from Mick's Nostalgia Channel on Youtube before it sadly disappeared. Admittedly I saved this originally thinking it was a mystery drama (due to the girl at the beginning going missing), but it turns out to be a social drama debating whether it is better for a child to be home schooled or state schooled, or even no schooling at all. It doesn't give easy answers, but does benefit from a charismatic performance by Graham Crowden and good child performances by Adrian Wagstaff and Prudence Oliver. While Prudence would go on to other things, this is astonishingly Wagstaff's only screen role! Please note this contains some swearing and brief nudity.
(I have since discovered this is from a quartet of dramas from a short anthology series called Tales Out of School from 1983).