Heathcliff, taken in when a homeless child as an act of charity by Mr Earnshaw, to live with his own family at the remote Yorkshire farmhouse, Wuthering Heights. Mr Earnshaw's son Hindley (Jimmy Johnston) formed an instant antipathy to the wild and rebellious Heathcliff, whereas his sister Cathy (Helen Hobson) found in Heathcliff a suitable soul mate whose fiery passions fed her romantic nature.
The two were inseparable and their habit of wandering unchecked on their beloved moors resulted in an accidental injury which invalided Cathy for a time, necessitating a stay at Thrushcross Grange, the home of the Lintons - the cultured Edgar, and his sister Isabella. This contact with a more refined world seduced Cathy, spurring her to rein in her wild passions somewhat; the dazzle of wealth broadened her horizons, her first taste of gentility causing her to question the careless abandon of her relationship with Heathcliff, and to despair of the possibility of a future together for them in a world that required more prudent choices be made. Her acceptance of Edgar Linton's (Darryl Knock) marriage proposal threw Heathcliff into a tormented rage; in order to avoid daily confrontation with his loss of Cathy, and to punish her with his absence, he travelled abroad in an effort to improve his station in life, to match that of her husband.
Years pass; Heathcliff returns unexpectedly, having amassed the extreme wealth he sought, as well as vast experience - although nothing to expunge his passion for Cathy. Hindley Earnshaw - master of Wuthering Heights following the death of his father - is by now a drunken bully, still seething with hatred for Heathcliff. They fight, Heathcliff winning Wuthering Heights as forfeit. He marries Edgar's sister, Isabella (Sara Haggerty) although he does not love her, and cruelly abuses her, in order to torment Cathy just as her marriage to Edgar continues to torment him. Ultimately, following a gruelling childbirth, Cathy dies having confessed her undiminished passion for him, and her error in having given herself in marriage to Edgar, a decision which ultimately brought misery to all concerned.
Heathcliff endures years of torment following this loss, until his own death reunites the lovers in the afterlife.