The Royal
Set in the 1960s, this British medical drama follows the staff and patients of St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital.
Genre: Drama
Cast:Linda Armstrong , Robert Daws , Wendy Craig , Michelle Hardwick , Amy Robbins , Andy Wear , Denis Lill , Michael Starke , Paul Fox , Zoie Kennedy , Scott Taylor , Natalie Anderson , Robert Cavanah , John Axon , Ian Carmichael , Anna Madeley , Sarah Beck Mather , Kari Corbett
S1.E1 ∙ First Impressions
The Royal is, in the 1960s, the local hospital for the North Yorkshire town of Elsinby. Its administrator T.J. Middleditch is a benevolent figure whilst the elderly matron is firm but fair with her nursing staff. Surgeon Mr. Rose is likely to light up his pipe whilst performing an operation and Dr. Jill Wetherill is a highly confident practitioner, though she does come unstuck on a home visit and Ken the hospital porter comes a cropper trying to fit an aerial on the roof. Young doctor David Cheriton turns up for his first day at the Royal and is surprised not only at how ill-equipped it seems to be but because no one was expecting him so early.
S1.E2 ∙ Second Time Around
A motor-bike crash brings a cruel end to a romantic escapade for a young couple, but elsewhere Matron assists Dr. Ormerod in bringing marital harmony to patient Dennis Cording and his wife. The porters have to deal with a rodent infestation problem and unwisely turn to patient, Aidensfield wheeler-dealer Claude Greengrass, for advice, though he keeps hallucinating that spiders are crawling all over him.
S1.E3 ∙ Coffin Fit
Jill Wetherill comes to learn the folly of jumping to the wrong conclusion after she suspects that older Dr. Alway has misdiagnosed a patient. David Cheriton proves himself at a car accident despite Dr. Ormerod's fears that he may have been affected by an earlier crash and Greengrass arouses the porters' suspicions after asking them to store a coffin, supposedly containing his late sister, in the hospital.
S1.E4 ∙ Sister of Mercy
Jill Wetherill helps the Heatons, an elderly couple, whilst Sister Brigid, a secular Irish nun working as a nurse at the Royal, discovers an abandoned baby which she believes is linked to missing teenager Susan. Whilst a Russian sailor is admitted to the Royal, Greengrass attempts to play the system to ensure a longer stay for himself, whilst an official hospital inspection looms.
S1.E5 ∙ Immediate Care
David Cheriton is faced with the unenviable task of telling young Francesca that she has only a short time to live, though it does lead to a wedding. Efficiency-mad Nigel Harper ruffles feathers with cost-cutting ideas, but the arrival of a famous jockey as a patient in the hospital means that the basic fund-raising scheme of having a raffle to help hospital coffers gives way, thanks to Greengrass, to having a flutter on the horses.
S1.E6 ∙ Kiss and Tell
Aidensfield copper Ventress comes to the Royal for a bunion removal and sees a supposed amnesiac, who is not what he claims. Doctors Wetherill and Ormerod get close at Cheriton's house-warming but Middleditch is faced with the news that the hospital may be forced to close and dreads having to tell the staff.
S1.E7 ∙ Crash
It's Dr. Alway's last day at the Royal before retirement but he, and the rest of the staff, are kept busy, following a bus crash, one of the wounded being Dr. Ormerod's wife Caroline. Whilst Cheriton gets cosy with Staff Nurse Taylor, Bernard Hussey, the NHS administrator, gets in everyone's way and Greengrass is re-admitted, apparently suffering from malaria.
S2.E1 ∙ All at Sea
Eve Peterson comes to the Royal requiring an emergency hysterectomy. She has had an illegal abortion, which she wants to keep secret from her boyfriend, placing Jill Wetherill in an awkward situation. Jill also comforts Gordon Ormerod, whose wife is in a coma and was apparently trying to leave him. Oscar Blaketon arrives from Aidensfield to tell Greengrass that a young woman is looking for him via the newspapers. It is, apparently, his long-lost daughter.
S2.E2 ∙ Snakes and Ladders
Middleditch is away and Nigel Harper, his stand-in, annoys everyone with his fussy ways. Equally annoying is wealthy hypochondriac Mrs. Lyons, who demands her dog be treated after being bitten by a snake. David Cheriton gets involved with Jeffrey Carpenter, a depressed boy who has attempted suicide but things do not work out as he had hoped. Jill and Gordon Ormerod have a passionate kiss.
S2.E3 ∙ Thicker Than Water
Sister Brigid finds a clash between her faith and her profession when it becomes apparent that a devout Catholic woman be sterilised for her own good, bringing her into conflict with her priest. A hunting party ends in disaster whilst Ken fights Harper over arrangements for the hospital laundry.
S2.E4 ∙ Wishing and Hoping
Mr. and Mrs. Barrie bring their young daughter Denise to the hospital for treatment for whooping cough. Her resultant death, because she was never vaccinated, causes panic as the Royal staff endeavour to immunise as many local children as possible. Mr. Rose operates on himself and Harper plans to cut costs by selling an ambulance whilst David has a weekend away with Staff Nurse Meryl Taylor.
S2.E5 ∙ One of Those Days
Dr. Ormerod answers a call for help following a boating accident but goes to the wrong location and ultimately the injured man dies, causing the doctor to blame receptionist Lizzie. Alf Ventress brings in two men from Aidensfield who were fighting over a woman, when one collapsed with a brain haemmorhage. Sister Brigid comforts Jane who is having a baby for the first time at age 37 and it all goes wrong. Meryl Taylor believes she is pregnant but will not allow David to marry her purely out of duty.
S2.E6 ∙ The Last Waltz
The hospital's charity ball is being organized by Meryl and David with a band led by porter Andy's brother Vic and Aidensfield barmaid Gina on vocals. When the band's van breaks down, Ken rides to the rescue. Jill treats a woman with syphilis but is on hand to comfort Gordon when he realizes that his wife may never recover.
S3.E1 ∙ The Unbreakable Chain
Student nurse Samantha Beaumont makes quite an entrance, arriving in the middle of the night. The hospital porters get involved with helping a farming family, whilst Brigid and Jill try to persuade a young couple not to reject their new-born child, who has Down's Syndrome. Lizzie goes on a crash diet and is surprised by the result.
S3.E2 ∙ If Not for You
Porter Alun gets involved in a road accident with a suspected drunk driver, while Samantha does not impress Matron, and a female patient makes serious allegations against Dr. Ormerod. The rugby match between staff from the Royal and Ashfordly General is revived and the consequences are tragic.
S3.E3 ∙ Doing the Rounds
New young doctor Jeff Goodwin arrives at the Royal to replace David, after a traumatic journey in which he is involved in a car accident, punched by one of the other drivers and then robbed of his motor. Annette Cheriton calls in to collect her son's belongings and Meryl is taken by surprise to learn that he had a fiancee.
S3.E4 ∙ Consequences
Jeff raises eye-brows but ultimately wins the day by letting a holistic therapist cure a patient's back injury, following a mining accident. Gordon's father-in-law Henry comes to the Royal and suggests that Caroline's life-support machine be turned off. Gordon agrees though feels some guilt, given his feelings for Jill.
S3.E5 ∙ Poison
The porters persuade Harper to re-apply for his job following management re-organization and move him into a plush office, where he accidentally puts insect powder in his tea instead of sugar. Romance is in the air for Ken as he meets an old flame on the ward and Alun as he goes after Samantha. Jeff almost commits professional suicide by ordering the closure of a café which he wrongly believes to have poisoned a jazz band - before Matron sees the real cause. Gordon and Jill have an awkward time at a dinner party when their host Frank Welborn tells them he suspects his wife of trying to murder him.
S3.E6 ∙ Famous for a Day
Television presenter Lennie Lemarr brings a film crew to the hospital for a special Christmas broadcast - and Nigel Harper is the star of the show. Gordon and Meryl rescue a boy who has fallen through ice on a frozen lake only for the ambulance taking him to the Royal to get stuck in a snow drift. A Christmas miracle results, though not for Ray Piper, who comes to the hospital after a family tiff which ended with him being hit on the head with a frozen turkey.
S3.E7 ∙ Skin Deep
Jill and Gordon decide to call it a day but when they try and tell people they seem to know already. Sister Brigid considers leaving the hospital whilst Lucy Klein meets a figure from her past and, with Nigel Harper now a permanent administrator at the Royal, Ken has to work out how to keep him in his place.
S3.E8 ∙ Cliffhanger
The police are called to the Royal after a man with a leg injury turns out to be one of two gun-men on the run and his friend gets ready to shoot. Gordon is called out to a cave to tend some injured fossil-hunters and, whilst Ken tries to find a television set to watch the World Cup, Matron visits Brigid in the convent to talk her into returning to the hospital.
S3.E9 ∙ All the Fun of the Fair
The fair comes to town and the fortune-teller reveals staff futures though Gordon now knows his own. Jeff and Samantha have to cut free the operator on the waltzers who gets caught in the mechanism and take him to the hospital for Mr. Rose to operate on him. He explains that his father, who runs the rides, has been having dizzy spells, and the doctors arrive too late to prevent him from causing further disaster.
S3.E10 ∙ Holding on Tight
A group of drunken lads on a stag night arrive at the Royal very much the worse for wear but the drink they have been consuming is lethal hooch made from industrial alcohol and one of them is blinded as a result. Mr. Rose performs an operation in the home of Ada,who has a gangrenous toe whilst Samantha still can't get it right as far as Matron is concerned.
S3.E11 ∙ For Those in Peril
Gordon is disturbed when he receives poison pen letters. The staff help Sally Bain, a girl whose parents' behaviour has caused her to run away from home. Jeff is shocked to find that a cheese on sale in the area has become contaminated due to the cattle's illness and local gentleman tramp Sebastian Fox-Kirby's death reveals that he was a decorated Naval hero in the war. When his relatives eschew responsibility for his funeral the Royal's staff send him off with full honours.
S3.E12 ∙ Reckoning
Gordon is angry that the police feel the need to investigate his wife's death but Jeff and Samantha get cosy together. Routine tests on young Peter Blackwood sadly reveal that the lad is subject to a hereditary heart disease in his family, and disaster strikes for Ken, who needs an operation after lifting a piano, and Lizzie, who crashes into Harper's car during her driving lesson.
S3.E13 ∙ Doing Time
Jeff's failure to spot post-natal depression in new mum Sheena almost ends in disaster when she ends up on top of a cliff likely to jump. A prison van crashes, killing the driver and injuring the convicts and a guard, who are brought to the Royal for treatment. Ken recognises an old friend among the prisoners.
S3.E14 ∙ Home to Roost
Jeff discovers that he has a love rival for Samantha but Gordon and Jill are brought closer when his former father-in-law tells them that he was suspicious of their relationship and hired a private detective to follow them. They announce their engagement. The hospital is evacuated after a suicide victim is brought in, whose body appears to be giving off toxic fumes.
S4.E1 ∙ For Better, for Worse
Jill and Gordon finally get married and invite their colleagues to the ceremony but there is an unwanted addition to the wedding day when the hospital staff are called out to an old people's home, where cost-cutting has led to an explosion, causing casualties.
S4.E2 ∙ Beggars and Choosers
When young Stan Sanderson is brought to the Royal with an injury sustained at work Jeff decides he can claim for compensation and gets unexpected help in his crusade from an important private patient. Sister Brigid brings comfort to Rory, a terminally ill alcoholic.
S4.E3 ∙ No Room for Ravers
Jill's home visit to war veteran Patrick Maver, a psychologically damaged man, turns into a nightmare and a siege situation as he takes her hostage. Harper creates a mystery when he is seen paying visits to an unknown woman, whilst Alun's plans for rock stardom fall apart when his practising is responsible for an accident.
S4.E4 ∙ The Rose Queen
Jill and ambulance driver Frankie are literally in a cliff-hanging situation getting to young Anita, who is injured in a fall and needs to get to the Rose Festival where she is to be crowned queen. Gordon, on the other hand, lands in trouble when his diagnosis of food poisoning turns out to be far more serious.
S4.E5 ∙ It's What's on the Inside That Counts
Jill finds herself in an ethical battle with the Howarths, who are refusing to allow their new-born baby to have vital treatment. A new assistant matron, Thelma, arrives and is unpopular with everybody except Nigel Harper. Samantha receives some bad news.
S4.E6 ∙ Duty Bound
Jeff finds himself in an unenviable situation, thanks to Chrissy, a friend of Lizzie, who sees herself as a woman scorned by him. Gordon and Frankie fights rescue a young kayaker from a weir, while sadly it is the end of the line for Samantha.
S4.E7 ∙ Sins of the Father
Gordon gets unwittingly involved with a domestic dispute which has got out of hand and Lizzie finds her new scooter is more trouble than it's worth. Nurse Stella Davenport arrives to replace Samantha, but her reputation has already preceded her.
S4.E8 ∙ Everybody Needs Somebody
Matron surprises a thief in the office, who attacks her and whose identity comes as a surprise when all is not as it first appears to be. Jeff worries that he is not appreciated and has acquired a bad reputation, but a greater fear grips the hospital when an outbreak of tuberculosis seems likely.
S4.E9 ∙ Say a Little Prayer
Sister Brigid is deeply concerned for the welfare of Mother Peter, the head of the convent, who is very ill, and is resistant to treatment. Jill hears from Samantha as to the identity of the father of her baby, which caused her to give up her career. Frankie has plans for himself and Meryl, only to see her with another man.
S4.E10 ∙ The Way We Were
Jeff takes the opportunity to set the record straight about himself and restores his reputation after going to the rescue of two pot-holers in a cave. Meryl's future with Frankie ends up on the rocks but romance re-enters Matron's life when her old flame Johnny Lomax turns up as a patient at the Royal.
S4.E11 ∙ Sinking Feeling
Gordon and Frankie are put in a dangerous situation when they go to the aid of an injured trawler-man on board a boat which is gradually sinking. Matron hands in her resignation in order to start a new life as Mrs. Johnny Lomax, but sadly it is not to be.
S4.E12 ∙ While the Cat's Away
Matron prepares to return to work, where Harper is putting into effect his cost-cutting schemes. Jeff and Meryl grow close whilst working together and Frankie is not happy about it. Gordon is involved in a serious accident which leaves him unconscious.
S5.E1 ∙ Loved and Lost
Gordon Ormerod returns to the hospital following his accident and is called to a girls'school where his unsympathetic treatment of a hypochondriac pupil suggests that he needs more time to recover. A new nurse, Catherine Deane, comes to work at the Royal whilst T.J. Middleditch prepares to retire as hospital administrator.
S5.E2 ∙ Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man
Having secured the future of the Royal Mr. Middleditch hands over to the much younger Adam Carnegie whilst Gordon's plaster comes off at last. Mr. Rose is forced to think on his feet when disaster befalls a friend on the golf course whilst the Travis family have to face up to tragedy.
S5.E3 ∙ Thinking Too Hard
Gordon has still not regained all his old confidence as is evidenced when he attends a drunken farmer after a tractor accident. Paul Guthrie accuses his glamorous young step-mother Debbie of trying to murder his father, night-club owner George who has been admitted to the hospital with symptoms of poisoning, whilst Jeff becomes involved in a domestic case when Hilary Worthington claims custody of her grandson on the grounds of his parents' irresponsibility. Lizzie has an admirer in stationery salesman Teddy Worthington.
S5.E4 ∙ Seeking Refuge
Jeff is accused of becoming too involved when he goes out of his way to help Carol Buxton, who tells him that she is suffering domestic violence at the hands of her husband whilst a patient who is referred under an assumed name causes confusion. Frankie suspects that Gordon's erratic behaviour is caused by addiction to his medication.
S5.E5 ∙ Fever
An epidemic of typhoid breaks out, located to the wards, and the Royal has to be quarantined though, despite this, Mr. Rose still has to bring an injured man into the hospital for an operation. Jill catches Gordon, still not his full self, asleep on the job.
S5.E6 ∙ Letting Go
Jean Westerley comes to the Royal, suffering from burns, and Gordon is anxious that she be admitted but she refuses, saying that she cannot leave home, causing him and Jill to discover her reason. Frankie goes after a man trying to steal his motor-bike and injures him, causing the thief to crash the bike and ultimately to die. Alun becomes obsessed with an expensive hi-fi system.
S5.E7 ∙ Love Is All You Need
When a friend of the Ormerods complains of stomach pains, Jill diagnoses appendicitis and Mr. Rose prepares to operate. However, it turns out to be a perforated bowel and the patient dies of septicaemia. Adam Carnegie is critical of Jill, who is defended by Gordon. Jeff is let down by the parents of baby Charlie Worthington when he persuades the baby's granny and guardian to take him to the park, whilst a misunderstanding leaves Catherine Deane believing Adam has asked her to a dance.
S5.E8 ∙ Waifs and Strays
When Ella Hale brings baby Anne to the Royal and congenital syphilis is diagnosed, it is revealed that Ella and her husband have adopted the child unofficially and the real mother is stripper Paula, who now decides she wants to see her baby again. Catherine treats an old friend of her late husband, Billy Yates, who asks her on a date, whilst Gordon and an unimpressed Mr. Rose find themselves at a hippy camp.
S5.E9 ∙ Winners & Losers
Nigerian locum Joan Makori encounters prejudice from patient's mother Mrs. Woodbridge but wins her respect after saving her daughter's life. Adam and Catherine have a secret date at the races where jockey Liam O'Brien falls ill after starving himself to make the weight. Gordon is concerned for school-boy Jimmy Carbery who is running himself ragged with milk and paper rounds to sustain his family but ultimately gets the boy a job as stable-lad when he leaves school.
S5.E10 ∙ Price of Progress
Due to signposts being changed in the war to confuse Germans, Joan gets lost on her way to a remote home visit and is rescued by Ken in time for her to sample some Yorkshire hospitality for treating the Worsleys' son. Adam takes Catherine to an Italian restaurant whilst a randy window-cleaner is brought in in a state of undress having injured himself fleeing an irate husband. The X-ray machine breaks down and an old man dies but his widow donates his savings to the Royal in gratitude for past treatment.
S5.E11 ∙ Keep on Running
Chip shop owner Phil Granger comes to the Royal after a fire which the police believe he started in order to claim the insurance. Elderly Mr. Wilkinson is also brought in after Ken almost runs him over and a desperate Phil steals an ambulance with the old man inside it, ending up in the sea. Jill persuades a bullied wife to live life for herself whilst Jeff decides to volunteer his services in Biafra.
S5.E12 ∙ From This Day Forward
An elderly trawler-man collapses and his boat ploughs into and demolishes a pier on which a wedding reception is being held. Jeff rescues the groom from drowning whilst Gordon has to perform an amputation in situ to free a guest from the wreckage. Afterwards a leaving party is thrown for Jeff but Gordon is called away as Jill gives birth prematurely.
S6.E1 ∙ Absent Friends
Jill cuts short her maternity leave to return to the Royal because of staff shortages and Matron notices that Catherine is avoiding Adam. Out in Africa Jeff makes a promise to a dying woman to create a better life for her young daughter, Nkeshi.
S6.E2 ∙ Home and Dry
Jeff returns from Africa with Nkeshi, whom he has smuggled into the country illegally. A shocked Matron suggests he put the child in an orphanage but he cannot go through with it. Pop singer Dorcas arrives at the Royal having deliberately injured herself to cancel her tour and escape her bullying boyfriend/manager Rick. With the papparazzi anxious for a good photo of Dorcas, Frankie becomes an innocent pawn in her plan.
S6.E3 ∙ Hoping for the Best
Staff encourage put-upon wife Lesley Pinner to take a stand against her controlling husband who was more concerned about the bike than her when they fell off their tandem. Jill's alcoholic patient Jimmy Beattie is brought sharply face to face with his responsibilities to his children when his selfless wife dies of cancer and Matron assumes Adam is the father when Catherine tells her she is pregnant. Joan takes a job in Cameroon and, as Nkeshi's future in England is doubtful, agrees to take her too. Jeff decides he will soon follow.
S6.E4 ∙ Fear of the Expected
Aristocratic Lady Isabella Martindale injures herself in a riding accident and is driven to the hospital by her handsome young chauffeur Tom, to whom Lizzie takes an instant shine. As Mr. Rose diagnoses her broken ankle, Adam is more concerned with persuading her to make a donation to the Royal.
S6.E5 ∙ Dr Who?
Due to an administrative error two young men turn up as prospective successors to Jeff Goodwin, the post eventually going to Dr. Mike Banner. Catherine makes her feelings clear to Adam about their relationship but Stella is the victim of a horrifying attack after a night out.
S6.E6 ∙ Cursed and Blessed
When expectant mother Lily Metcalfe arrives at the Royal, she is followed by her husband, intent on harassing her and the staff must find the cause. Stella is interviewed by the police after her ordeal and, although she has not picked up any infections, she feels that people are doubting her version of events.
S6.E7 ∙ Starting Over
Mr Middleditch makes a surprise return to the hospital in an ambulance after hurting his ankle while fishing; Steela grudgingly welcomes new nurse Marian McKaig as her room-mate; and a frantic mother calls for Mike's help at a hippy commune.
S6.E8 ∙ Coming to the Boil
Two new nurses, Marian McKaig, who rooms with Stella, and Susie Dixon, who turns out to be Matron's niece, arrive as does a man suffering from anthrax, which involves the intervention of a public health inspector. Agnes Corbett's dizzy spells call for the examination by a specialist whilst Alun and Lizziwe are intrigued by a disappearing girl patient.
S6.E9 ∙ Scabs
The porters go on sympathy strike but this is bad news for Alun when he is in need of help. He also loses interest in Susie when he realises who she is. Jill has bad news for Dora Rigby, whilst piano teacher Hugh Etheridge, who collapses outside the hospital, and is rushed into casualty, is clearly giving little away about himself.
S6.E10 ∙ Laura
The death of a baby in a train crash during a family day out makes Jill more determined than ever to support Adam's plan for a premature baby unit. Local farmer Sam gives cause for concern with his odd behaviour whilst Stella's attacker is brought to the hospital after being badly assaulted by the father of another of his victims.
S6.E11 ∙ Can't Buy Me Love
Henry, Gordon's ex-father-in-law visits, bearing an olive branch and making a bequest to the Ormerod family whilst Adam comes under suspicion when hospital funds are unaccounted for. Mike attends a meeting to assess the future of Billy Taylor, a middle-aged man who still lives with his elderly mother on whom he is dependent. Ken has to make a confession to his colleagues.
S6.E12 ∙ Love & Loss
Susie makes a play for Frankie, telling him she does not mind his being married before. Jill discovers that Alice Hibbert has stolen another woman's baby from the ward but Jill is herself expecting again and is rushed to the theatre with an ectopic pregnancy. The young nurses hold a séance in Matron's flat,spied on by Alun and Frankie. A candle is knocked over, causing a fire and the girls are trapped in the room.
S7.E1 ∙ Against All Odds
Marian is returning to the Royal by rail when the train crashes and, whilst she is trapped in the carriage, she is able to move about and assist the wounded. Dr. Nick Burnett, the new locum for the hospital, is also on the train and they work together, though when the injured are brought to the Royal, staff shortages put staff under a strain.
S7.E2 ∙ On the Road
Sister Brigid is giving out food to the homeless of the town when Nick suggests that they should be given treatment in the hospital's private suite which is rarely used, an idea which brings him up against Adam. Jill is called out to a car accident where a young couple, the Fishers, have swerved to avoid a dog. The wife, Teresa, is heavily pregnant and goes into labour with Jill delivering the baby in the car. Gordon feels she should not be exerting herself .
S7.E3 ∙ Blood's Thicker Than Water
Penny Darnby is admitted suffering from pneumonia and is worried that her father should not be left alone with her young daughter. Nick has to amputate the hand of a fisherman, who is concerned about his future livelihood, and, at the Hopkirks' leaving party, Lizzie decides to stay in Elsinby after all and bids her father goodbye.
S7.E4 ∙ Slings and Arrows
Alun is disappointed that he has been passed over as Ken's replacement and Eric Fogle has been appointed as the new head porter. Mike sends word that he will not be returning to the Royal and Gordon puts Nick forward as a permanent partner. Lucy Bayliss falls off her horse and the X-ray suggests a more long-term problem. Lizzie throws a party to celebrate staying on.
S7.E5 ∙ To Love and to Lose
Matron takes decisive action to deal with her troublesome porter. Lizzie finds a soulmate. Dr Ormerod and Rose are caught in the crossfire when a family feud erupts into violence. Sister Brigid's faith is tested to the limit.
S7.E6 ∙ Stolen Dreams
An amusement arcade in the town collapses, trapping youngsters in the wreckage. One is a boy with a rare blood disorder whose mother must be found. Stella and Frankie work to free a young girl trapped beneath a fruit machine during which time Frankie tells Stella that he loves her. Unfortunately the future is cut short for some of them due to an gas explosion.
S7.E7 ∙ Home from the Hill
Jack Bell, a new head porter to replace the departing Eric, arrives and ends up as a patient. Bobby comes to replace Frankie as the new ambulance driver and takes Gordon to attend elderly Hester Hindmarsh who lives in a remote and decaying farm-house and is tormented by local youngsters as an eccentric. Susie passes her exams, Nick faces up to his feelings for Marian and Alun's band plays its first gig - in a club which catches fire.
S7.E8 ∙ Pastures New
Jack is thrown in at the deep end when the hospital's boiler breaks down and he has to find a new one in a hurry. Nick is called to a dilapidated and unhygienic farm-house where young Simon Watts has a fever and high temperature. His pregnant mother takes on the same symptoms and needs to be rushed to the hospital, where Gordon and Mr. Rose are trying to persuade eccentric explorer Sir James Fawcett that he is in no fit state to travel to Mexico.
S7.E9 ∙ Busman's Holiday
Staff gather at the home of Mr. Middleditch for his 70th Birthday celebrations, but in typical soap fashion a bus crash isn't far away.
S7.E10 ∙ In the Air
Having previously bet Lizzie that she could get Adam to date her, Susie dines out on her success but Matron is less than pleased when she is late for work again and decides to suspend her from duty. Mr. Rose faces complications when he has to operate on a golfing buddy and Gordon has to treat a man trapped beneath a combine harvester.
S7.E11 ∙ The Best of Intentions
Nick has to attend to two little girls who have been overcome by carbon monoxide fumes and Jill gets involved with the family of a man training to be a priest. The real hero of the hour is Susie, who well and truly redeems herself with her aunt when they are having a cliff-top picnic and Matron collapses. Susie's actions save the day.
S7.E12 ∙ Compromising Positions
Despite being advised against it by Nick, Bobby takes the law into his own hands with a local thug and ends up getting stabbed. Moira dies and the Ormerods consider adopting her child Aisling. Susie decides to put her nursing career above her private life and breaks off her engagement to Adam - who then proposes to her.
S8.E1 ∙ Safe as Houses
The Ormerods accompany Sister Brigid to Ireland for Moira's funeral where married Sergeant O'Malley is among the mourners. It becomes clear that he is baby Aisling's father and his wife is about to find out. Back at the Royal new Dr. Ralph Ellis is thrown in at the deep end when he attends to Ruby, a teenager injured at a children's home, but reluctant to leave her little sister to go to hospital.
S8.E2 ∙ Counting Chickens
The Ormerods relieve a troubled Sister Brigid, who was considering leaving the veil to bring up Aisling, when they agree to adopting the little girl. Back at the Royal the porters have a hare-brained scheme to raise chickens whilst Ralph Ellis faces racial prejudice when he diagnoses school-girl Tracey Wong with non-contagious leprosy to which other parents show hostility.
S8.E3 ∙ These Foolish Things
Matron is put in an awkward position when her married friend Margo appears to have syphilis, about which her husband is unaware. Jack and Alun go after buried treasure but only succeed in puncturing a sewage pipe instead. Gordon and Ralph are called to a cliff-top rescue, which Ralph almost jeopardises when he ends up in need of rescuing himself. New administrator Jean McAteer gets to grips with the job.
S8.E4 ∙ Any Old Iron
Rag-and-bone man Lester Marsh is brought into the hospital after being knocked down and kicked by his horse. Gordon has to be taken by lifeboat to attend an emergency on a yacht and ends up comforting a grieving widow. For Susie, however, things are looking up as she asks Alun for a lift - to her wedding to a very wealthy man.
S8.E5 ∙ Should I Stay or Should I Go Now
Following the departure of Susie after her whirlwind courtship and marriage a new student nurse, Faye Clarke arrives to take up her position at the Royal. Meanwhile receptionist Lizzie falls head over heels for a handsome stunt-riding motor-bike daredevil.
S8.E6 ∙ Please Release Me
A secret from Jean's past comes back to haunt her at the Royal, and Dr. Weatherill has to break some shocking news to a young couple.
S8.E7 ∙ Tutti Frutti
Alun dates ice cream saleswoman Daniella but it is clear that she is only using him so Lizzie and Jack conspire to break them up by exposing her true colours. Schoolgirl Denise Mount gives birth to a baby fathered by classmate Ray and their parents are anxious that the child should be adopted, but they have reckoned without Sister Brigid's powers of persuasion. Jean is stalked by the unstable wife of a man with whom she had an affair but leads the hospital in siding with the woman against her philandering spouse's attempts to have her sectioned. She nonetheless feels she should resign.
S8.E8 ∙ Manoeuvres
Jean stays on and reluctantly agrees to accompany married Mr. Rose to a golf function. Jill and Sister Brigid take the Ormerod children to an amusement park but the day ends in a double drama when a feud between employees almost kills a man and Gordon's son Tom is rushed to the Royal with appendicitis - which gets Jean off the hook when Mr. Rose is recalled. Ralph takes pity on Sheila, a depressed young widow with three small children and saves her from prison when she is charged with shop-lifting.
S8.E9 ∙ Dead Air
When a Girl Guide pack camps locally one of the elderly leaders goes down with a mystery illness whilst the other, having innocently drunk spiked fruit squash, crashes the bus, landing them all in casualty. They decide it's time to quit. Lizzie and the nurses take Alun's demo disc to stoned DJ Lenny Lomax on board the Radio Neptune pirate ship but during an argument over unpaid wages Lenny accidentally shoots a crew member, requiring Gordon and Ralph to make a mercy dash in the lifeboat.
S8.E10 ∙ A Hero for Our Time
Jean faces an uphill struggle with the local District Health Authority after its chairman Sir Charles's daughter, is admitted to the hospital. Jack goes off on a fishing trip, which is interrupted when a car crashes into the lake. Also making a splash is the cowboy builder who accidentally disconnects the wrong pipe in casualty.
S8.E11 ∙ Below the Surface
When an unexploded WW2 bomb goes off, Jill and Ralph have to operate on a tramp trapped in the wreckage of a collapsed building, aware that a second bomb may also explode. Meanwhile a young boy is wounded by a shotgun blast allegedly fired by a burglar but Gordon believes the youngster's grandfather is keeping something back and the pickle magnate who donates the money to repair the casualty department damaged by the inept plumber is also not whom he claims to be - as Ralph well knows.
S8.E12 ∙ The Enemy Within
Aisling's adoption party ends in tears for most of the guests but Sister Brigid and Mr. Rose, appalled that an elderly woman has been incarcerated in a lunatic asylum for having a baby as a teenager, ensure that she ends her days in comfort. Meanwhile Gordon advises a hard-drinking fisherman to cut down his intake but whilst his daughter is having fertility problems the man's wife is heavily pregnant - by her daughter's boyfriend. Chaos ensues - with Gordon as a victim.
