When former detective Robert and his school teacher wife Katy decide to make major changes to their lifestyle, they impulsively purchase a guest house in the Lake District where they plan to create a haven for holidaymakers. When Mark, a former colleague and friend, approaches the couple asking for their help in providing temporary housing for people needing protection from criminals, their idyllic guest house quickly becomes a safe house.

At its heart, Banished is a story of survival. Though it is set in the stark historical reality of the founding of the penal colony in Australia in 1788 after the arrival of the First Fleet, it is not the story of Australia and how it came to be. Rather, it is a tale of love, faith, justice and morality played out on an epic scale in a confined community where the stakes are literally life and death.