Plot

Rebellion is in the air and Tommy's headstrong behaviour risks Elizabeth's future plans.

Tommy Barrett launches a vicious assault on Private Buckley and is sentenced to hang. With food rations being cut Ross urges the governor not to weaken in his decision as he will need military support in case of rebellion. He does not tell him that he has ordered his arrest should he fail to support the sentence. Meanwhile MacDonald suspects that Ross's apparent new-found gentleness is a ploy to come between him and Kitty and Letters is forced to admit to fellow convict Stubbins that he has lied about his wife's infidelity to spare his feelings. For James however the problem is to keep from the other prisoners the fact that he will be the hangman and the target of their revenge.—don @ minifie-1

When the truth of Private Buckley's accusations about Elizabeth Barrett sink in, Tommy Barrett sees red. The soldier runs for his life but he is not quick enough, and Tommy batters him to within an inch of his life. Despite James Freeman and Elizabeth's attempts to stop him, Tommy does a thorough job. For a convict to assault a soldier is a capital offence, and this time Major Ross feels there can be no exceptions or reprieves - Tommy Barrett must be made an example of and hang. For once Governor Phillip agrees with his nemesis and Tommy is unceremoniously frog-marched through the camp to prison. Meanwhile, the young love between Katherine McVitie and Private MacDonald is beginning to curdle. Are Major Ross' underhand tactics winning her over?

Barrett goes berserk and finds Buckley and beats him to near death, placing the governor Phillip in a dilemma with Major Ross demanding Barrett be hanged and the Reverend Johnson pleading leniency. With food supplies dwindling, Ross proposes withdrawing food from the dying and feeding the corpses to the prisoners so that his soldiers can remain fed. Ross convinces Sergeant Timmins that in the event that the Governor should not sentence Barrett to death, then Timmins should arrest the governor. The governor decides to sentence Barrett to death and allows Barrett and his companions to get drunk. Ross's plan to break up McVitie and MacDonald come to fruition when she agrees to having sex with him. Freeman, knowing he will be the hangman and will be killed by the other prisoners, goes to the scaffold and puts the noose around his own neck.