About this season
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.
Episodes (20)
1. Fly Like A Bird
Aired 18 July 1990 • 50 min
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.
2. A Day To Remember
Aired 25 July 1990 • 50 min
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!
3. A Place To Call Home
Aired 1 August 1990 • 50 min
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.
4. Divided Loyalties
Aired 8 August 1990 • 50 min
A pilot-friend of Johnno's, Keith Lorrigan, has a plane crash and dies. His wife Vikki finds some heart pills, and Johnno doesn't want anybody to know, they'd only think it was Keith's fault. Johnno tries to work out what happened and discovers Keith thought he was flying barrels of destilled water, when in fact it was sulphuric acid in them. The barrels leeked and caused the crash.
5. A Rural Education
Aired 15 August 1990 • 50 min
David and Annie go to a remote part of town to do check ups on pupils at the school. One of the boys keeps acting strangly and has bad headaches and his hands keep shaking, his sister is having headaches aswell. The other kids tease him and think he is mad. David tries talking to his father but gets no joy from him, so he goes to see the boy's grandfather. He has got the shakes aswell and says it's miners shake, David finds out from him that stuff from the mines has been leaking into a stream, but then they find out it is getting into water where the boy's father is getting water from to water the vegetables with, so it turns out the boy is being poisoned.
6. The Ties That Bind
Aired 22 August 1990 • 50 min
The team is presented with a major problem by a couple and their disabled child.
7. Brother’s Keeper
Aired 29 August 1990 • 50 min
Through helping an alcoholic friend, Tom finds himself trapped in a mine and at the mercy of a murderer.
8. Wilderness
Aired 5 September 1990 • 50 min
A man burns down his house and heads into the outback, taking his daughters with him.
9. Valentine’s Day
Aired 12 September 1990 • 50 min
David falls in love with a British woman, she is flying around the world on her own, she is only in town for a few days while her plane is being fixed. But, then David finds out she is very ill and has hodgekins disease. She wants to travel and sees as much of the world as she can before she dies. David asks her to marry him, but she turns him down because of the travelling.
10. A Little Tenderness
Aired 19 September 1990 • 50 min
Tom talks to a woman who needs to have her utures removed. The woman lives under horrible cirumstances, he husband is really mean. One day her husband gets badly hurt, and Tom and Johnno flies out there. There's a storm coming in, so they can't fly the hurt man to hospital. Tom has to operate, assisted by Johnno and the wife. The operation is a sucess and finally the couple manages to sort things out.
11. Poet’s Corner
Aired 26 September 1990 • 50 min
An alcoholic poet suffering with writer's block shows up in town and causes trouble by his decision to turn to plagiarism.
12. Family Farm
Aired 3 October 1990 • 50 min
A tense situation develops in town after a distraught man, burdened by his failure to provide for his family, takes two hostages.
13. A Place Where You Belong
Aired 10 October 1990 • 50 min
A young German doctor arrives in Cooper's Crossing and is soon needed to help out in an emergency.
14. Break Away
Aired 17 October 1990 • 50 min
A young mother attempts to escape from her manic depressive boyfriend by running away to Cooper's Crossing.
15. Billie and Pete
Aired 24 October 1990 • 50 min
Geoff runs into a couple of people from his past, ex-jazz singer Billie Sorenson and her one-time pianist Pete.
16. Old Man Weed
Aired 31 October 1990 • 50 min
Magda and Kate attempt to persuade an aborigine girl's father to let her have an operation to save her from a brain tumour.
17. David and Goliath
Aired 7 November 1990 • 50 min
David attempts to help a man who has his leg trapped. Back at the hospital David also notices a lump on the man's chest which he wants tested and removed.
18. Last Carnival
Aired 21 November 1990 • 50 min
Annie gives treatment to a boy who works on a carnival and they soon develop a strong rapport.
19. Innocence Lost
Aired 28 November 1990 • 50 min
Kate and Geoff attempt to help a girl who has been raped. She isn't saying much and refuses to say who did it. Annie goes on a date with Ted Patterson.
20. Bush Christmas
Aired 5 December 1990 • 50 min
Vic and Nancy are getting ready for Christmas.