The struggles of nuns and students at a Roman Catholic convent school in 1960s Sydney.

Diane, a young woman growing up in mid-1960s Australia, walks away from her fiancé to join a convent after being sure she has a calling to the faith. The Catholic Church and its followers are struggling with huge changes. The Pope has died, there is war in Vietnam and mandatory conscription, there is the Vatican controversy on abortion and contraception, and the face of the Church as a whole is changing. In this 6-part story, Diane faces her own demons and must finally decide whether she can teach what the Church preaches, or if reconciling all of the contradictions of the faith and upholding her vow of obedience are simply impossible for her.—Jane Phillips

Set in the 1960s, "Brides of Christ" tells the story of a group of nuns in a fictitious inner-city convent school in Sydney during a time of radical upheaval in society and in the Catholic Church. In the era of Vietnam and the Rolling Stones, established disciplines and rites are questioned in a collision between an ancient institution and the modern world. The series shows nuns as highly-spirited questioning women with sexual feelings and very human failings.

Diane Markham (Josephine Byrnes) drops her fiancé, becomes Sister Catherine, and joins a convent, Santo Spirito School for Girls, under the guidance of Sister Agnes (Brenda Fricker). Catherine begins a friendship with another convent newcomer, Sister Paul (Lisa Hensley), and begins to teach English and acts as the school newspaper advisor. Rosemary Fitzgerald (Kym Wilson) is arebellious student who gets herself into trouble, while another student, Frances Heffernan (Naomi Watts), is upset because her divorced mother is remarrying. Catherine and Paul help Frances overcome her depression. Another convent novitiate falls in love with an ultra-liberal priest (Simon Burke) while the real life of the Vietnam war, rock'n'roll, free love, and free abortions flood the news.