Dr. David Cheriton arrives at St. Aidan's Royal Free Hospital in Elsinby, newly qualified and keen to impress at his job interview - only to discover they aren't even expecting him. Meanwhile, Dr. Jill Weatherill's professional competence is called into question during a home visit, and hospital porter Ken Hopkirk's efforts to put up a television aerial end in disaster.

Claude Greengrass causes a kerfuffle with a coffin containing the remains of his deceased sister and a mysterious phone call only serves to raise suspicions. Jill Weatherill has trouble with a patient who refuses to accept her condition, while Dr. Cheriton panics when he arrives at the scene of an accident bereft of vital medical equipment.

Sister Bridget discovers a baby on the steps of the hospital. PC Bellamy and Dr. Alway link it to a girls disappearance for a couple of days. Dr. Alway sets out to find the girl and informs her shocked parents that their daughter has had a baby.

A serious coach crash throws the Royal into chaos, and for one member of the staff, the incident proves exceptionally traumatic. Cheriton has a bombshell for Nurse Taylor.

Gordon struggles to cope following the coach crash which left his wife horrifically injured and turns for comfort to colleague Jill, who tries to persuade him to take time off work. Meanwhile, a woman arrives at the Royal requiring an emergency hysterectomy following an illegal abortion, and pleads that the whole affair be kept secret from her fiance, and Greengrass is shocked to discover he has a long-lost daughter.

A teenage boy is brought into the Royal having fallen from a cliff, but it soon emerges that the incident was a suicide attempt as evidence of extreme depression comes to the surface. Cheriton contacts the youngster's psychiatrist but is taken aback when electroshock therapy is suggested as a form of treatment, so ventures to the family home to recommend an alternative — only for tragedy to strike. Meanwhile, a hypochondriac causes chaos at the hospital when she insists her dog be treated following a snake bite, and a heart-to-heart between Weatherill and Ormerod leads to a passionate kiss.

Sister Brigid has a crisis of faith over a mother whose life is in danger. Family secrets are exposed when a hunting trip ends in tragedy, and Ken and Harper clash over the hospital laundry.

A student nurse causes quite a stir when she arrives in the middle of the night, while Ken and Alun contend with a farming family suffering a crisis. Brigid and Jill deliver a Down's syndrome baby whose parents don't want anything to do with it, and Lizzie's crash diet has alarming consequences.

Brigid arrives at a decision and Lucy Klein is disturbed by the unscheduled reappearance of a figure from the past. Mr. Harper rests on his laurels, certain his future is assured, while Ormerod and Weatherill reveal they are about to end their relationship - only to find the news is already common knowledge.

Ormerod faces a taxing time when a prison van overturns on the moors. The driver is killed, a guard is seriously injured and one of the convicts escapes, while the others are rounded up and taken for treatment at the hospital, where Ken Hopkirk recognises an old friend. Goodwin fails to diagnose a serious case of post-natal depression - an error which almost ends in tragedy when the mother is found standing perilously close to a cliff-edge - and student nurse Samantha Beaumont discovers she has an unexpected love rival.