Dr. Finlay's Casebook

In 1928 Glasgow, Alan Finlay studies to become a qualified doctor, and dreams of becoming a surgeon. His landlord goes missing and Finlay follows a hunch which leads him to the town of Tannochbrae and a meeting which will change his life.

Outbreaks of scarlet fever worry Arden House and Finlay suspects milk may be at the root of the problem.

While in Glasgow to collect a leg brace for a young patient, Finlay encounters a showman 'doctor' who later comes to Tannochbrae and treats the same patient with his 'scientific' methods, much to Finlay's chagrin.

Meg McBain, the stock-breeder's wife, gives birth to a son. But who is the father? Is it McBain, or could it be the carefree Irish tinker Tim O'Shea?

The 'dirty Fergusons' live like pigs and seem happy to do so. But by doing so they offend against Alan Finlay's strict sense of sanitary propriety. On the other hand Mrs. Elgin and her aged sister live in an atmosphere of pathological cleanliness, and they become Dr. Cameron's reluctant concern.

Alan Findlay runs into trouble when he is asked by the Ministry of Health to organise a free milk experiment at the local school.

Roddy Munro is the envy of every lad in Tannochbrae. After giving up his clerical job it is the day of his first match as a professional footballer and the Tannochbrae United Supporters' Club are away in force to Kinleven to cheer him on. An added incentive for Roddy is the news that several of the bigger English clubs are sending scouts to watch him. There is just one snag - and it is Dr. Finlay, himself a keen supporter of the local team, who spots it and becomes involved in a most unprofessional piece of work.

On a fishing expedition Dr. Finlay makes an unusual 'catch' when he attends to a stranger hurt in a fall. His patient is Anthony Hay, a well-known London actor staying in Tannochbrae to rest, so he says. But there is something about him that arouses Finlay's suspicions. And why is Hay's wife so anxious to keep him away from doctors?

Lord Moorcroft is trying to persuade the Council to put up a memorial to the fallen of the 1914-18 war. But there is a section of the community who feel that the money would be better spent on such necessities as street lamps than on what the local schoolmaster calls 'vast marble eyesores'.

Kevin McDonald is Tannochbrae's shot-putting hope for the Highland Games. He is big, handsome and good-natured, but something brings about a change in his temperament. Finlay's efforts to help him only earn him a black eye. The partners at Arden House each have their own theory but neither can convince the other that he is right. It takes a near tragedy to provide the truth.

Robert Finlay visits his son Alan at Tannochbrae for the first time. Left to his own devices for much of the time he forms an association with Mrs. Hamilton. Mr. Finlay thinks her a kind and generous person: the Doctor thinks exactly the opposite.

Former radio producer Alison Bell goes talent hunting for the Cottage Hospital's children's Christmas party. Alas, talent is hard to find but eventually, for the sake of a very sick child, she persuades Doctors Cameron, Finlay and Snoddie to do their party pieces. On the day itself each doctor is bent on outshining the others, only to find that someone else outshines them all.

Dr. Finlay concentrates on the case of a nervous novelist. Dr. Cameron tries his hand as an amateur electrician and Janet risks the fearful consequences.

Motoring to stately Walton House to see a new patient Dr. Finlay 'rescues' Barbara Davidson from a herd of Highland cattle. Their mutual attraction causes Dr. Cameron and Janet some concern.

Miss Seymour is the headmistress of a boarding school for the daughters of gentlemen. She has strong ideas about discipline and ladylike behaviour and her teaching methods are Victorian to say the least. During a rehearsal for a school play one of the girls falls off the stage and dislocates her shoulder. Dr. Finlay is sent for, and though he is greatly liked by the girls Miss Seymour has doubts about his influence on them.

There is justice in the world - at least Janet and Dr. Finlay think so - when it is announced that Dr. Cameron is to receive the Hamilton Society Award, given to the medical practitioner who has best served his profession in the last five years.

Young and attractive Clare Simmons, who is the pianist at the local cinema, is on her way home from work. As she quickly walks along a deserted lane she becomes aware of someone following her...

Dr. Cameron is afraid his partner means to leave him again: he's showing his usual alarming symptons of spring fever. Cameron makes an offer that everyone thinks is splendid. ""It'll give you a real anchor here, my boy"" says Finlay's father. But does an anchor have to resemble a ball and chain?

An accidental fall on to a stone floor and a baby is dead. The possibility that it was no accident is something that Cameron and Finlay are reluctant to face, but GPs have a duty to the public.

Dr. Finlay is concerned, and rightly so, when Dr. Cameron doesn't sleep at night, drives his car like a lunatic and tells Janet she is a 'very comely woman'.