Charmian Powell meets Ronnie Biggs on a train. As Ronnie is a petty criminal, Charmian's headmaster father does not approve and forbids her to see him. In love, she leaves home, steals from her employer, and goes on the run with Ronnie.
Ronnie returns from his tree-felling job and Charmian realizes that he has been involved in the Great Train Robbery. This is confirmed when he shows her his share: £147,000.
Ron's picture appears in an Australian magazine. They decide that he doesn't look different enough and feel like they have no alternative but to up sticks again.
As Ron begins a new life in Rio, Charmian makes the best of things as a single mother in Melbourne. But tragedy strikes when their eldest son Nicky is killed in a car accident.