The Flying Doctors

Dr. Tom Callaghan arrives in the remote town of Coopers Crossing to join the Royal Flying Doctor Service on missions to the homesteads, stock stations and mining camps of outback Australia. Whilst trying to be accepted by the locals, a task made all the more difficult by the death of his first patient, Tom is unexpectedly introduced to Beth Drever and her daughter Liz, a New York advertising photographer, when Andy is forced to make an emergency landing.

Tom and Liz continue to be drawn together by their mutual contempt for the outback. However, Tom steadliy begins to see things differently when he starts to respect those who live in such an isolated location.

A town meeting is held where George Baxter voices his displeasure with Dr Callaghan. Harry manages to quell the dissention but it is too late, Tom has heard enough and quits his job on the spot. Tom and Liz leave Cooper's Crossing for Sydney where Harry tracks them down in an effort to bring Tom back. Tom tries to help Diana and Doug through their predicament but his advice to return home only results in Diana's father throwing him off the property. Pamela Stoneham is recued when an emergency call is received. Tom goes out on a call to assists Jean Hennessey who has gone into premature labour, she is brought back to Cooper's Crossing where Tom successfully delivers her baby.

Tom and Kate are on a clinicround. It's Tom's birthday. There they see a patient named Ted, who complains of stomach-ache. His family situation isn't the best, he doesn't care about his sons and they don't care about him. He is taken to hospital, where he finally makes up with his family. A new doctor, Chris Randall, arrives and everybody is upset that the RFDS headoffice sent a female doctor, especially Violet. Chris has to go out to see a patient with a smashed leg. She does everything she can to help the patient, Jim Spencer. But he really needs to go to hospital. They move Jim to the plane, but the weather is too rough, and Ray, the pilot, can't take off. They have to take Jim back to the house, and Chris makes a very difficult decision - she has to amputate Jim's leg to save his life, despite mrs. Spencer's vishes.

Chris has horrible nightmares about the amputation. Everybody is accusing her, they are convinced that she could have treated Jim Spencer without taking off his leg. Her patients avoid her, and George Baxter even threatens to sue her. A few days later Chris is out on an overnight clinic where she finds a four-year-old girl with croup. It gets very bad, and Tom decides to come. For some reason George Baxter is on the plane as well. Chris realizes that Tom won't be able to get there in time, so she needs to do a tracheotomy(?) (it's when you make a little whole in the patients windpipe, so he/she will be able to breath).The girl's mother won't let Chris perform the rather simple procedure, she has heard what happened to Jim Spencer. Tom tries to talk to her over the radio but she won't listen. So Tom maked George Baxter understand that the little girl will die if Chris doesn't operate, and Baxter talks to the mother on the radio. he claims he has been wrong about Chris all the time an

An english family, the Robertsons, arrives in Coopers Crossing, looking for work. They get a tip that a farmer outside town needs workers so they decide to go there. However, they get lost, and have to stay in the car over night. The next morning, the man goes for help and tells his wife to stay near the car with their two sons, Alfred and Alexander, and babydaughter. It is incredably hot and mr. Roberson gets dehydrated and finally collapses. Since the family didn't show up at all at the farm where they were expected, a search is organized. They find mr. Robertson, and he will be ok. At the car, mrs. Robertson has been really angry with the two boys and they run off. When they want to go back they discover they are lost. The search party manages to find the car where mrs. Robertson is very worried about her sons. Eventually the two boys are found, but too late - one of them died of dehydration.

Sam and Kate are worrying for a woman named Sal Cleary, she acts a bit odd. They check it out and it turns out her daughter Julie is pregnant. She isn't married but still wants to keep the baby. The family wanted to pretend the baby was Sal's, so both she and Julie has to stay out of sight until the baby is born. At the birth there are some complications but everything goes well eventually and Geoff, Kate and Sam lets everybody think it was Sal's child. There is a political election between George Baxter and a man named Rob Dalton. George wins.

A man called Jim has a car-accident and goes to hospital. His wife, Carol, is acting a bit strange about it. Chris finds out she's dyslectic, but she refuses to admit it. Later her son drinks some medicine, she can't read the bottle and that way everybody finds out she can't read and write over the radio. Sam buys a horse from Carol, who is an extremely good rider, and Sam and Kate are practicing togehter for the big rodeo. Carol doesn't want to ride in the rodeo, she feels embarresed, but she turns out anyway. There's a beer-strike and Hurtle makes some own beer. But suddenly the whole town starts acting really strange. Geoff finds out Hurtle has mixed the alcohol with caffeine, which causes personality changes!

A woman named Barbara Freeman finds out she's got a braindisease. It's hereditary, but her husband Robert won't tell their son Michael, he doesn't want him to worry. But Michael hears it anyway, and steals Baxter's airplane. The plane is grounded, and finally Jack manages to talk him down. DJ wants to start a disco to get the youngsters calm, they've caused lots of trouble. Jack lets him build a gym. Jack's boss Kevin has heard complaints about the youngsters and shows up. He decides to transfer Jack, but when he sees how Jack talked Michael down from the plane he changed his mind. Finally DJ gets his disco and celebrates with a huge party!

A boxing troupe arrive and one of them is ex-champion Johnny Lawrence who is after Kate. Geoff is jealousy but keeps his distance. Johnny suffers a heart problem and has to give up boxing, so asks Kate to leave with him. Kate refuses stating its because of her love for Coopers Crossing, but Johnny tells her she loves Geoff.

Sapphire is a woman who is married and lives with her husband and his sister. Her husband is alot older than her and everyone thinks Sapphire is after his money. The sister in the meantime is poisoning her brother but has convinced the farm hand that Sapphire is doing it.

A man and his 8yr old daughter Tracy are in a car crash and Tracy wanders off. A woman reports to Jack that she has met the girl but Jack doesn't believe her as there is no evidence of a child having been in the car, and the woman has been reporting a child crying in the bush for years since her own 8yr old daughter Laura died. When Tracy's father regains conciousness and asks for Tracy Jack is distraught as he blames himself for Laura's death. Chris comforts Jack and later the girl is found safe.

Kate and Geoff are on their way to a clinic when two tyres puncture and they have to walk to the farm. When they get there, they see two hot air ballons coming. They belong to a family, consisting of Brian, Lorraine and their son Matt, and a work collegue...a young blonde called Kylie. Finally it's decided there is to be a balloon race, to raise fonds for the RFDS. Kate will be going with Matt, and Geoff with Brian. Geoff is hopeless on navigating, which makes Brian upset, he really wants to win. Suddenly he has a terrible stomach pain, and Geoff has to put down urgently. In hospital they see Brian had a hernia and operate! Lorraine has realized Brian and Kylie were having an affair, and she leaves town. Kylie knows that Lorraine and Brian really should be together, so she finds Lorraine. She and Brian decides to try again. Paula is starting to care more and more for Geoff, and he is a bit embarrassed about it!

A preacher called Teddy Faithful is coming to town, and it is said he can perform miracles. At a meeting in the townhall, when everybody is there, he makes a blind man see again! Everybody is stunned, but later on it turnes out that it was all a fake. Brett, the man organizing all Teddy's activities, had hired the man to make everything look good. Teddy fires Brett and will leave on his own, along with Jenny Rose, a singer who now follows Teddy around and didn't know anything about Brett's lies either. Paula thinks she is turning to religion and wants to follow Teddy, but Sam makes her see sense.

Kimberly White is coming back to Coopers Crossing, to check on George Baxter. She brought her son Todd. Chris meets them at the airport, but Todd isn't very nice. The take a country drive, and stops in the middle of the outback to go for a walk. Todd stays by the car, but suddenly he gets frightened and starts running after Kimberly and Chris, screaming. He falls and hurts his leg. When they asked him what scared him, he says it was a snake. In hospital, Todd gets a bed next to a young boy named Danny, and they become good friends. Chris is still worried about Todd, she doesn't believe a snake scared him, and on a hunch she takes him outside. He gets completely terrified, and Chris realizes he's got agrophobia, he's afraid to be outdoors. Paula realises that Danny has a crush on her and tells him that she is going to be a big sister to him.

Doctor David Ratcliff from Broken Hill arrives. Jimmy and Sally McCarthy has a caraccident. Sally will be fine, but Jimmy has massive braindamage. David says Jimmy is clinicly dead and wants to call the transplant unit. But Chris wants to wait for Geoff, he is out on a clinicround. When he comes home he confirms what David's been saying, Jimmy is clinicly dead. But David has acted very badly toward Jimmy's parents. Despite that, they agree to a transplant! Chris wonders if Geoff and Kate really are getting married, since Paula say they are. Kate hesitates, but finally says ""yes""!!!

Emma is trying to get a truck out of some water which it has fallen into, Paula is helping her. The truck falls on Emma's arm and she is trapped with her arm under the water. Paula calls the base for help. David and Geoff arrive there, but they are having problems getting her out, at one point David suggests they might have to amputate her arm. The water is rising and unless they act quickly Emma will drown. With the help of Mr Baxter they just get Emma out in time.

The Malarvy-family comes to Coopers Crossing when their daughter is hospitalized due to pneumonia. They have eight children and the oldest daugther looks after the rest of them. She meets David and at a party she accidently ""thinks"" David proposed to her. She is really thrilled and tells her parents right away. They also like the idea of their daughter beeing married to a doctor. After a lot of talks, explanations and misunderstanding the girl understands and decides to go to nursing school in Broken Hill.

Tom is going on holiday and with him on the Broken Hill plane are Kate, a pregnant woman and two businessmen. The businessmen want to look at a certain place which isn't on the route to Broken Hill and the pilot forges the flightplan. They crash and no one knows where they are. One of the businessmen goes for help, but it's stupid - he'll never make it without water. The woman delivers a little baby girl who is very ill. Luke and the woman's husband is out looking for them and finds the businessmen who'd gone for help severly dehydrated. They find the others as well and everybody will be all right, even the little baby!

A new RDS pilot lands himself in trouble when he gives a lift to an old rascal called Felix.

Chris has to look after a criminal, Evans. The police claims he tried to escape but his injuries are consistant with the ones of a beating. Chris feels sorry for him but finally she has to release him from the hospital. On the way to Broken Hill they have a caraccident. When Chris gets there Evans tries to kill them all but is shot to death by one of the policemen. It turned out Evans had been treated for schizophrenia.

The new pilot, Johnno Johnosn, arrives. An old man named Les thinks he's got asbestosis from mine-jobs. He's convinced he'll die and wants compensation money from the mining company. He's gonna give the money to a boy named Matt, who wants to be a pilot. Les finds out he's not gonna die after all, and when Matt finds out he steels Johnno's plane. Johnno manages to talk him down though.

During a clinicround there are reports of small fires, which eventually turns out to be one huge fire! Geoff goes out there, but burns his hands and is replaced by David. He attends a family where the woman is seriously ill. They manage to get her to hospital, but she needs major surgery in Sydney. There's no time to fly her there, and Geoff can't operate, so David has to do it! The operation is a success!

Nick is out fixing a wind mill, when a woman named Kerry comes, her car broke down. She's pregnant and starts having contractions. Nick helps with the delivery, she gets a baby girl. Something is not right with Kerry though, and it turns out she stole the car and a lot of money from her boss. He comes to Coopers Crossing and says if he gets his stuff back he won't press charges.

A new doctor and nurse show up in Cooper's Crossing. He is charming but arrogant and she's fed up with overbearing city doctors, so the stage is set for a clash.

A man collapses whilst drilling an oil rig and after Johnno and David show up at the scene they discover the boss is an old enemy of Johnno's.

A pregnant woman is being flown to the hospital with Kate as the only other passenger on board and they run into a bad storm. Kate is forced to deliver the baby after they woman goes into labour and she then rejects her baby and won't hold it or see it. Clare loses everything following a fire at her house. The doctors do everything they can to get the new mother to accept her new born baby.

Rowie is riddled with guilt when Walter Morell claims to have seen a nymph in the outback. Twenty years ago, Rowie abandoned her friend Beryl in the outback and she believes the sighting of the nymph is more than just a coincidence.

Life with baby Scarlett leads to marital discord for Geoff and Kate. Then when Kate's sister Penny becomes infatuated with Geoff, things are only set to get worse. Meanwhile the whole town is convinced that a satellite is about to hit town.

The love of Clare's life appears in the Crossing and causes her some consternation. meanwhile Steve finds running his own business is not as easy as he thought.