Doomwatch

What if a man-made virus with the power to melt all plastic became as infectious as the common cold? When a plane crashes in South America, in quite extraordinary circumstances, it's up to Dr Quist's team to avert further disaster.

Doctor Quist and Doomwatch become embroiled in an inquiry into the heart-transplanting practices of Doctor Patrick. Several uncomfortable questions are raised: what has he been doing to a newborn baby that has been placed in his care, and should genetic engineering be permitted in society?

When a lifeboat crew discovers a luxury cruiser adrift in the English Channel, they find on board are a group of wealthy pop stars and their girlfriends, one of whom is dead. Doomwatch investigate, and discover that the death was not from drug abuse as was previously suspected; instead they begin to uncover the facts behind the dumping of a deadly chemical warfare compound in a deep sea trench, which seems to be far from dormant.

Quist's authority is questioned from all directions, and Ridge does some quiet investigations into hybrid science in Norwich.

Ridge and Hardcastle are sent on what seems a simple enough assignment, but stumble onto a major government cover up in an abandoned English manor.

Doomwatch become involved with the inhabitants of a small, secluded island who have been forced to leave for the English mainland and are struggling to survive.

John Ridge apparently suffers a breakdown from the pressure, and decides that, due to the excessive threat of pollution on the environment, drastic steps should be taken. He steals some phials of the deadly virus anthrax and holds the government to ransom: unless his anti-pollution terms are met, he will destroy humanity by releasing the virus in a number of major cities. A race against time begins. Can Ridge be tracked down before it is too late?

An inquiry into Doomwatch is begun following the events surrounding Ridge's breakdown. Meanwhile, Quist is summoned to a large country estate in Scotland, where he finds himself offered a new position with both power and wealth in the private sector, but only if he will curtail his investigations into a new drug called disocyanate. Back in London, the Minister decides that it is time to place his own man within Doomwatch, and so despatches Commander Neil Stafford to join the team.

Many years ago, Quist worked on the infamous Manhattan Project, which was instrumental in the designing of the atomic bomb codenamed Fat Man, used to obliterate the seaside port of Nagasaki in World War II. This involvement has continued to weigh heavily on Quist's conscience ever since. Hearing the phrase "Say knife," he recognises a potential threat - one that is tied into a break in at a plutonium base. A group of young student activists has stolen several radioactive fuel rods, and are planning to construct their very own atomic device.

Astrophysics lecturer Neil Tannahill receives an enigmatic note from Dr. Spencer Quist, former head of Doomwatch, and finds himself drawn into a sinister conspiracy involving Soviet nuclear waste secretly stored at a British nuclear facility.