In 1930s Shanghai, a young office girl falls in love with a factory worker in the same company.

Daniel Deronda is a British television serial drama adapted by Andrew Davies from the George Eliot novel of the same name. The serial was directed by Tom Hooper, produced by Louis Marks, and was first broadcast in three parts on BBC One from 23 November to 7 December 2002. The serial starred Hugh Dancy as Daniel Deronda, Romola Garai as Gwendolen Harleth, Hugh Bonneville as Henleigh Grandcourt, and Jodhi May as Mirah Lapidoth. Co-production funding came from WGBH Boston. Louis Marks originally wanted to make a film adaptation of the novel but abandoned the project after a lengthy and fruitless casting process. The drama took a further five years to make it to television screens. Filming ran for 11 weeks from May to August on locations in England, Scotland and Malta. The serial was Marks' final television production before his death in 2010.

Set in the Republican-era Shanghai, Gu Man Zhen works as an assistant in a factory, while Gu Man Lu works at a nightclub to support the family. Gu Man Zhen falls in love with the wealthy Shen Shi Jun, a young engineer who happens to be engaged. Gu Man Lu marries the lustful Zhu Hong Cai, though is unable to prevent him from hankering after her younger sister. Gu Man Zhen and Shen Shi Jun meet again a decade later when both are married and try not to let societal expectations ruin their prospects for happiness.

Marion is a woman who has learned to shield herself from her emotions. She rents an apartment to work undisturbed on her new book, but by some acoustic anomaly she can hear all that is said in the next apartment in which a psychiatrist holds his office. When she hears a young woman tell that she finds it harder and harder to bear her life, Marion starts to reflect on her own life. After a series of events she comes to understand how her unemotional attitude towards the people around her affected them and herself.