The Flying Doctors (1986)
The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It was initially a 1985 mini-series based in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan. The success of the mini series led to its return the following year as an on-going series with McFarlane being joined by a new doctor, Chris Randall, played by Liz Burch. McFarlane left during the first season and actor Robert Grubb came in as new doctor Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained but also featured ongoing storylines, such as Dr. Standish's romance with Sister Kate Wellings. Other major characters included pilot Sam Patterson, mechanic Emma Plimpton, local policeman Sgt. Jack Carruthers and Vic and Nancy Buckley, who ran the local pub/hotel, The Majestic. Andrew McFarlane also later returned to the series, resuming his role as Dr. Callaghan. The popular series ran for nine seasons and was successfully screened internationally.
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Episode 1 - The Noble Art
Release Date: 1988-03-03A 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.
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Episode 2 - Sapphire
Release Date: 1988-03-10Sapphire 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.
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Episode 3 - Cries From The Heart
Release Date: 1988-03-17A 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.
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Episode 4 - All In A Day's Work
Release Date: 1988-03-24It's inspection time at the base and the inspector hasn' t arrived. The team are busy flying around the district and are unable to make the clinic run. Guess who's at the clinic run? the Inspector. Eventually she arrives at the base via the mail plane but when she is talking to Geoff he falls asleep. Jack falls for Chris.
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Episode 5 - Out Of A Clear Blue Sky
Release Date: 1988-03-31Marty the mechanic arrives and causes problems for DJ at the disco, while Jack is out of town sorting out his divorce in the hope that Chris and he will get together.
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Episode 6 - Affirmative Action
Release Date: 1988-04-07Sam and Emma come to the aid of a friend who has entered 'The Great Australian Camel Race'; and George Baxter finds himself besieged after incurring the wrath of the town's womenfolk.
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Episode 7 - Figures In A Landscape
Release Date: 1988-04-14An artist and his agent arrive in town to find a bush retreat to boost his flagging career, but is the visit just a cover for something more sinister? Meanwhile, Chris finally confronts Jack about their relationship.
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Episode 8 - The Devil You Know
Release Date: 1988-04-21George Baxter meets his match when he comes up against a tough American business woman.
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Episode 9 - Operation Solo
Release Date: 1988-04-28An explosion at a gas field injures Geoff, and Kate accompanies him for therapy at Broken Hill—will romance blossom? Chris has to perform an emergency operation, and DJ has to win back Soula's affections.
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Episode 10 - The Path Of True Love
Release Date: 1988-05-05The RFDS come to the aid of a tourist bus stranded by a flood. One of the passengers is seriously ill, and it looks as if she will die alone until a 25-year-old love affair is rekindled.
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Episode 11 - The Kid
Release Date: 1988-05-19The arrival in town of a young boy and his dog creates tension.
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Episode 12 - The First Step
Release Date: 1988-05-26Geoff has to be cruel to be kind to help a young woman recuperate from a stroke, while for DJ, woo turns to woe.
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Episode 13 - Hopscotch
Release Date: 1988-06-02When a young, penniless woman expecting her third baby is deserted by her husband, the town's sympathy is aroused.
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Episode 14 - Jacks High
Release Date: 1988-06-09Things look nasty in Coopers Crossing when the town is invaded by a wild bunch of shearers and Jack is accidentally shot. Will the town be able to find somebody with his rare blood group in time?
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Episode 15 - Clapped Out
Release Date: 1988-06-16The RFDS come to the rescue of two old timers trying to save their heritage from the rapacious George Baxter.
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Episode 16 - Private Lives, Public Faces
Release Date: 1988-06-23A new cop Larry O'Connor and his dog Rebel arrive in town and he is eager to make an impression. He starts out by arresting the youths who broke into Baxter's office. DJ is panicking as the boys go to the disco he runs. Mike tells Chris he is married, but that he loves her. Violet's grand-daughter arrives and takes Violet to England.
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Episode 17 - Wedlock
Release Date: 1988-06-30A boy finds out his mother is having an affair with another landowner. The boy falls off his horse and complains of pain in his legs. chris can find nothing wrong with the boy and suggests he go home. He hears his parents talking of divorce and falls ill again. Sam and Chris devise a way to find out if he is faking or not. Marty is forever talking about leaving for Surfer's Paradise so DJ, Constable O'Connor and Sam set up the Surfer's Carnival.
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Episode 18 - The Wrangler's Daughter
Release Date: 1988-07-07A Wrangler and his mental impaired daughter are camping out in the bush. The wrangler's boss Richard Sawyer frightens the girl who runs away, and when her father goes looking for her he is bitten by a snake. The locals start a search of the bush and Constable O'Connor impresses the town by finding the girl.
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Episode 19 - Borrowed Time
Release Date: 1988-07-14A crop duster friend of Sam's named Bob gets work for Baxter but he has turned into a Enviromentalist and sprays water/milk over the crops. Baxter is not impressed and wants Constable O'Connor to arrest him. Bob tells Sam about his 8yr old son being killed when he sprayed himself with chemical from a tank. Bob decides to make a statement by threatening to empty chemicals into Canberra's water supply. bob gets killed and Sam finds out there were no chemicals aboard his plane.
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Episode 20 - The Forbidden
Release Date: 1988-07-21A land inspector visits falls down a cave after being warned by an aboriginal spirit to stay away. He is rescued but becomes very ill. Geoff asks Dougie for help in getting the curse removed. The man recovers but his tests show he had a disease caused by bat droppings. Mike visits Chris and brings his two daughters with him. The whole town starts talking about Chris, so Mike leaves but states he will be back. Sam's sister, Paula, also comes to the Crossing, she's got a job as radiographer at the hospital.
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Episode 21 - She'll Be Right
Release Date: 1988-07-28Hurtle returns to the crossing driving a Rolls Royce, which is stolen, but he doesn't know. Constable O'Connor is advised to look out for the stolen car, so Hurtle and Vic start hiding it around the town. Jack returns and he finds out Hurtle and Vic are upto no good. Mike tells Chris he has asked his wife for a divorce, but receives a call saying his wife has taken the children back to France. he asks Chris to go with him but she refuses. Mike leaves, and Chris is left to cry on Jack's shoulder.
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Episode 22 - One Final Request
Release Date: 1988-08-04Mike has left his Tiger Moth plane to Chris, after going to France to his kids. Geoff and Kate comes to and old lady with a heart condition. Geoff wants to put her in hospital, but she wants to die in peace, on her property. Geoff and Kate decides to stay and make her last hours as comfortable as possible. They also conduct the funural later on. Vic and Hurtle's case comes to court, and thanks to Larry, everybody involved get off with a warning. In the end, Larry and Hurtle both leave town.
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Episode 23 - Roxanne
Release Date: 1988-08-11Emma is going out to fix a tractor, despite Sam's and Paula's protests. On the road she sees a car in trouble. Inside she finds Roxanne and Kenny, both on the run from the police after a robbery. Kenny has been shot and is in a dreadful state. Roxanne forces Emma, under gunpoint, to ditch their car, and drive them to an abandonned shed in the bush. Late at night Kenny gets worse, so Emma and Roxanne go into town and get Chris. Sam has already reported Emma missing, but no one misses Chris until the following morning. A searcparty is organised and finally they find Chris and Emma, who has been under a lot of strain, since Roxanne has been taking amfetamines.
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Episode 24 - Don't Tell Anybody
Release Date: 1988-08-18A school picnic is held at a property belonging to a man named Rodney. He claims a ghost lives there to, Mick. Geoff and Kate are there, to teach the kids first aid. Later on the town people gather out there, except for Maggie, Emma, Chris and Lucy, who look after the pub. Geoff and Sam are called out on an emergency, but get terribly frightened by a dog! They swear, however, not to tell anybody. At night three nasty men arrive at the pub, which scares the women a bit. On the property Marty decides that he's going to sleep in Mick's room, to see if he is real. Paula scares him during the night, pretending to be a ghost. Marty runs away and falls down a gully! Sam is getting very worried about Emma, he can't reach her on the phone. He rushes back the following morning, only to find her and the other women having a nice breakfast with the nasty blokes from the previous night. Before Jack leaves Rodney's property, he actually sees Mick, in whom he had never previously believed, but when h
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Episode 25 - No Way Back
Release Date: 1988-08-25Emma is visiting a lady called Ann Williams on a farm outside of town. George Baxter wants to buy the property, but Ann doesn't want to sell, she has too many memories from the farm, where she lost her child a few years back. While Emma is out there, Sam visits, and suddenly Emma get a horrible stomach pain. She realizes there's something wrong with the baby, and George Baxter, who is in the neighbourhood, offers to give her and Sam a lift to the hospital. When they arrive in Coopers Crossing, Emma has lost her baby. Emma seem to recover, but an argument with Sam reveals she's really feeling terrible. Ann has decided to sell the property and go into the city. She doesn't want George to get a cheep price so she keeps an auction. The property is sold...to Sam Patterson!! Geoff finally agrees to go flying with Chris in her Tiger Moth. He is terrifid...but he survives!
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Episode 26 - Johnnie Come Home
Release Date: 1988-09-01A man named Harry has inherited a kidneydisease from his father and needs a new kidney. The only one who might be able to give it to him is his brother Johnnie, but he disappeared in Vietnam during the war. Harry's father dies and at the funural his wife Julia sees Johnnie, but Harry doesn't her. When Johnnie ends up in hospital, it turns out Julia was right, it is Johnnie! He gives his kidney to Harry!