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 - A Good Drop Of Red
Release Date: 1990-03-01Tom 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!
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Episode 2 - The Hero
Release Date: 1990-03-08A new RDS pilot lands himself in trouble when he gives a lift to an old rascal called Felix.
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Episode 3 - Suspicion
Release Date: 1990-03-15Chris 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.
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Episode 4 - Daddy's Girl
Release Date: 1990-03-22Mr Price and his grown up daughter Megan own place where men are drilling. Tom is an old friend of Megan's. While Mr Price and Megan are there, there is a big explosion. Tom and David go there, Mr Price and Megan aren't injured so they decide to fly out the men who are seriously injured first. Megan isn't happy about this - she wants her father on the plane first, but she and Mr Price end up staying back with Tom while David goes in the plane with the other men. Mr Price has a heart attack and dies, but it turns out he was taking tablets for angina and didn't tell Tom before
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Episode 5 - Two Sisters Running
Release Date: 1990-03-29Two girls, Kelly and Hannah, and their grandmother have a car accident. In hospital Geoff finds out the grandmother has lethal cancer. She wants to looks for the girls' father, Michael O'Connor, their mother is dead. Geoff locates Michael on the opal-fields, but Michael won't come back. The grandmother dies, and the girls overhear Geoff when he says they might be split up. The girls run away and a search-party is organized. Geoff has found out why Michael won't come back for his kids, and confronts him with the information. This makes Michael come and look for his girls and thanks to him they are found!
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Episode 6 - Dangerous Games
Release Date: 1990-04-05Nancy contacts an old rodeo-champion, Ralph McRae, to help Nick. Vic is jealous, he thinks Nancy and Ralph have something going. Ralph doesn't seem to realize he isn't young anymore, so he tries some rodeo, but gets really dizzy. It turns out he was near a stroke, but will be alright if he takes care of himself. He doesn't want to at first, but when he ends up in hospital he comes to his senses. Vic and Nancy are fighting and Nancy falls down the stairs. It looks like she'll be completely paralyzed, but later it turns out she could get better, if she has surgery. It's a rather big risk, but she and Vic decides to go through with the operation. And it is a success.
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Episode 7 - Milk Run
Release Date: 1990-04-12A woman named Lois Murchison takes a bad fall, and can't radio for help. The only one left on the property apart from herself is her very young son Ben. Lois manages to send a call to DJ on a really old radio, but he can't really identify her. Finally Tom finds her and takes her to hospital. Chris has applied for a top job in Sydney, and she got it - but turned it down!
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Episode 8 - Point Of No Return
Release Date: 1990-04-19Amanda is seeing Mark, who works on her father's property. Her mother doesn't approve and after a fight Mark leaves. Amanda is so upset she tries to kill herself. Debbie got a bump on the head in an accident, and in the plane her headinjury gets worse and she faints. David lands the plane, and Amanda will be fine. But Debbie's pilot's license is withdrawn.
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Episode 9 - Small Mercies
Release Date: 1990-04-26Tom goes to see June Nichols, who is ill. Her radio is broken, so Tom takes June's son Jason to go to the neighbours for help. They have a car accident and than gets lost in the bush. They are found however, in time to save June as well.
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Episode 10 - A Painful Extraction
Release Date: 1990-05-03DJ's father turns up and wants DJ to return to Greece with him. DJ and his father go to see an old man out in the bush to see if he is OK, his radio isn't working. The doctors take it in turns on the radio at the base. Turns out the old man is very ill and has tetnus. DJ decides to go back to Greece with his father and leaves.
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Episode 11 - The Climber
Release Date: 1990-05-10A bloke and his girlfriend turn up in town to see David - they are old friends. David and the bloke go climbing, his girlfriend isn't feeling well and stays at the hotel. The girlfriend seems to be getting worse and when Nancy sees her she calls Tom. It turns out to be a very bad case of food poisoning. During the climb the bloke starts feeling ill and can't carry on, he waits on ledge half way up and David goes for help. The food poisoning was from some caviar and champagne they had both had.
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Episode 12 - Dead Reckoning
Release Date: 1990-05-17When charter pilot Doug Holland flies into Coopers Crossing to refuel his aircraft, a nightmare begins for Geoff, Kate and the other doctors.
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Episode 13 - A Bride to Be
Release Date: 1990-05-24Typical Aussie outback man Whistler, who loves Alice but has avoided marriage for 20 years, discovers that the time has come to make a decision. In order to raise some extra money so that he will be able to support her, he attempts cattle rustling—but collapses in the process.
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Episode 14 - A Place For The Night
Release Date: 1990-05-31A young girl blames herself for her sister's drowning and loses the will to walk. While taking her to Broken Hill for tests, the plane makes a forced landing, and Geoff and Kate decide to stay the night in an eerie homestead occupied by two strange sisters.
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Episode 15 - End Of The Rainbow
Release Date: 1990-06-07Nick goes to an opal-miner called Jackson with a generator. Jackson attacks Nick but then get trouble breathing. He goes to hospital with his daughter while Nick stays to guard the mine. A thief comes at night and manages to get some opals with him. When Jacksom comes to the mine the following day he gets sick again and David take some tests of the mine. Jackson thinks his former partner, Palmer, stole the opals and goes over to his mine. David goes after him and finds them fighting in the mine. Suddenly the roof crashes down and the three of them are trapped inside. In the last minute they are saved by Tom and Nick. David finds out Jackson was allergic to some fungus in the mine and therfore he can't keep working in it. He sells the mine to Parker.
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Episode 16 - Double Vision
Release Date: 1990-06-14Tom is treating a girl named Kim, she's burnt her hands. She falls in love with Tom and follows him everywhere which is a bit embarresing. She follows him to the airport and climbs into the cargospace in front of the plane when they go on a clinicround. They find her there after a while and she has to stay with them over night. The following day she finds out her mother will come. She is very upset and runs away. Tom finds her on top of a windmill and manages, though difficulties, get her down. They found out Kim's schizophrenic and she will go back to town for treatment.
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Episode 17 - The Boy In The Boot
Release Date: 1990-06-21A father, Rex, and his son Tim is heading toward Coopers Crossing whne Tim gets in the boot of the car. They have a caraccident, but is saved in the last minute before the truck burns into a wreck. Tim will be fine, but Geoff finds out Rex's got a heart disease. It isn't curable and Rex wants to spend time with his son. They leave for a farm the following morning. Tim's mother, Jess, turns up in town and claims Rex has kidnapped Tim, she wants him back! At the farm Rex and Tim finds out the person they were looking for had moved but they stay there with Di and Ellie Martin. Suddenly Rex collapses. Geoff and Kate come but Rex died in the plane. Tim decided to stay on the farm to try some country life.
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Episode 18 - Windows Of The Soul
Release Date: 1990-06-28David is getting a man to hospital who hurt his head. David finds out he's been in Vietnam but he doesn't want to talk about it. But he does have a heart condition and needs a by pass operation in Sydeny. He refuses to go though, he reckons he's got nothing to live for. He runs away from the hospital but then his daughter from Vietnam shows up. Apparantly he had no knowledge of her. She and David go looking for her father and finally they manage to locate him. After lots of dramas the man ends up in hospital, and when he sees he has a daughter who cares about him he decides to go through with the operation and he and his daughter leave for Sydney together.
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Episode 19 - Rest In Peace
Release Date: 1990-07-05Nick and Annie find a car in a dried creek with two bodies inside. They are believed to be Bob and Rachel Jordan, who mysteriously disappeared years earlier. Tom is suspicious and finally they find out the man in the car wasn't Bob. It turned out Rachel had had an affair - Bob was ill and spent most of his time in bed. Their son found out and told Bob, who was very upset. Rachel and her ""boyfriend"" took off, but apparently they didn't get any further than the creek. Shortly afterwords Bob died, but made Michael swear not to tell the truth. Michael held his promise and burried Bob at the property. He had had mental problems ever since.
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Episode 20 - Life Line
Release Date: 1990-07-12Chris undergoes an emotional crisis after receiving some devastating news about her father.