Sun, Jan 19, 2003
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.
Sun, Jan 26, 2003
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.
Sun, Feb 2, 2003
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.
Sun, Feb 9, 2003
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.
Sun, Feb 16, 2003
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.
Sun, Feb 23, 2003
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.
Sun, Mar 2, 2003
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.
Sun, May 25, 2003
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.
Sun, Jun 1, 2003
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.
Sun, Jun 8, 2003
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.
Sun, Jun 15, 2003
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.
Sun, Jun 22, 2003
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.
Sun, Jun 29, 2003
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.
Sun, Nov 16, 2003
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.
Sun, Nov 23, 2003
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.
Top-rated
Sun, Nov 30, 2003
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.
Sun, Dec 7, 2003
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.
Sun, Dec 14, 2003
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.
Top-rated
Sun, Dec 21, 2003
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.
Sun, Dec 28, 2003
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.