The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (Christopher Schemering; Random House, 1985, p. 176) describes the plot of the first episode: "On the premiere episode Portia attempted to help a woman in trouble with a gambling debt." The book confirms what could have been safely assumed: that Frances Reid, who was the first of two actresses to play the title character, appeared in the first episode. Donald Woods (as Walter Manning) and Jean Gillespie (as Dorrie Blake) probably appeared as well, but this has not been confirmed.