This film, set in the industrial North of England in the nineteen fifties, opens in a school classroom where Mrs. Hardy has gone to fetch her son after the school day. She generally stops in to chat with his teacher, Miss Thompson, much to her husband’s displeasure when he comes home from the factory expecting to find food on the table.

Mrs. Hardy does her best to deflect her son’s questions about his schoolteacher, Miss Thompson. The boy enjoys school, but the idea that one day he’ll go to college to study art is not one his grandfather has any time for.

It’s the weekend, and young Victor’s parents aren’t getting along well at home. It’s a relief when his mother takes the boy over to a friend’s house to play.

Mr. Hardy is quite hurt by Victor’s success and reacts angrily, accusing his wife of paying more attention to Miss Thompson than to him.

A shock awaits Victor and Mrs. Hardy when they visit the school headmaster in search of news about Miss Thompson.

Mrs. Hardy and Victor journey home, saddened and puzzled by Miss Thompson’s abrupt departure. Later, Victor plays with his friend Andy by the railway line, and they talk about their mothers and teachers.

Stephen King is the most famous thriller/horror author from the U.S., and many of his novels have been made into feature films. In The Stand, a weaponized strain of influenza known as "Project Blue" is accidentally released inside a secret underground laboratory. Charles Campion, who has been charged with security, manages to escape the base due to a fault in its lockdown/containment protocols and flees by car with his wife and child.

When Charles Campion's car nearly crashes into a gas station, the men hanging out outside don't know what to do to save him. Campion's wife and baby have already succumbed to the illness, and he is also not long for this world.

The United States Army attempts to isolate the city and area around Arnette, Texas, going as far as to take civilians into custody. Meanwhile, Hap, Vic, and Joe Bob have all begun coughing...

Larry Underwood is a young, narcissistic pop singer who has just released his debut single "Baby, Can You Dig Your Man?" He runs up a lot of debt while living in Los Angeles and travels to New York to hide out, on the pretense of visiting his loving, but deeply disapproving mother.

Stuart Redman is forcibly held in a specialized center in Vermont, but proves immune to the virus. Harold is in love with Francis and tries to impress her with a self-written and published poem.

While Frannie and her father have a heart-to-heart talk, Stu Redman is getting tired of being kept in quarantine without any information and demands to talk to someone who can explain what's going on.

Shortly after the start of the epidemic, deaf-mute Nick Andros is beaten by some local thugs while walking on the street at night. He is mildly injured in the assault, and has dreams of Mother Abigail telling him to come see her in Nebraska.

Nick Andros wakes up in prison after a local doctor finds him on the street, nearly running him over. Nick manages to make himself understood and tell the sheriff who beat him.

Stu Redman is becoming increasingly impatient in quarantine and plays a mean trick on Dietz, who comes to discuss his situation.