R.F.D.S.
Acclaimed actress and award-winning singer Justine Clarke (Tangle, Rake, The Time Of Our Lives), Logie Award-winning star of stage and screen, Rob Collins (The Wrong Girl, Glitch, Cleverman) and Logie Award-winning actor Stephen Peacocke (Home and Away, Wanted) lead the cast of RFDS (working title), a gripping new action-drama on a grand scale, based in Australia's red heart, where the modern-day heroes of the Royal Flying Doctor Service navigate private lives as turbulent and profound as the heart stopping emergencies they attend. Based on remarkable real-life stories and filmed on location in and around Broken Hill, this series will capture the beauty and brutality of Australia's vast centre where the doctors, nurses, pilots and support staff of the RFDS negotiate the unique challenges of emergency retrievals across some of the most inhospitable places in the country. It's also a story about community and people coming together to laugh, to cry and to triumph, in spite of the huge obstacles they face.
- 1993-1994
- 1 season
- Drama
Acclaimed actress and award-winning singer Justine Clarke (Tangle, Rake, The Time Of Our Lives), Logie Award-winning star of stage and screen, Rob Collins (The Wrong Girl, Glitch, Cleverman) and Logie Award-winning actor Stephen Peacocke (Home and Away, Wanted) lead the cast of RFDS (working title), a gripping new action-drama on a grand scale, based in Australia's red heart, where the modern-day heroes of the Royal Flying Doctor Service navigate private lives as turbulent and profound as the heart stopping emergencies they attend. Based on remarkable real-life stories and filmed on location in and around Broken Hill, this series will capture the beauty and brutality of Australia's vast centre where the doctors, nurses, pilots and support staff of the RFDS negotiate the unique challenges of emergency retrievals across some of the most inhospitable places in the country. It's also a story about community and people coming together to laugh, to cry and to triumph, in spite of the huge obstacles they face.
Season 1 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 1993 - 1994
Episode 1
The Hill
The Flying Doctors join Rescue at the scene of a major accident with multiple casualties. Vic and Nancy Buckley, recently retired and travelling by caravan, are among the wounded. Dr. Blitho's unconventional treatment methods draw Rebecca's ire. Jim welcomes the arrival of his wife Laura, Broken Hill's new magistrate and coroner, her daughter Zoe, and Jim's son Jesse. Dennis is concerned about Leanne's relationship with her boyfriend, Cowboy.
Episode 2
A Different World
Called out to Minnie's Well to attend to Leanne after she is assaulted by her boyfriend, Dr. Blitho is forced to perform a risky procedure on the kitchen table before she can be flown back to base. Laura turns down a job offer from Sydney and gets more than she bargained for when Sissy takes her on a picnic to show her the outback. When Sissy drives her ute into a dam, the girls are forced to spend the night in the bush before walking back to town the next morning. Meanwhile, Vic, still recovering from his injuries, is able to leave hospital, and Jesse, missing his girlfriend, begins hitch-hiking back to the city.
Episode 3
Heartbreak
A child is rushed to hospital after his father found him unconscious in a dam. The parents must then face the difficult reality that their son's prognosis for a meaningful recovery is not good. With Zoe covering up her brother's absence as he continues his trip to see his girlfriend, Jesse is heartbroken to discover she has moved on. Meanwhile, Vic's recovery is hampered by depression, Laura's gets push-back from local politician Evelyn Whaley when she highlights a local pub's racist dress code, and Ted gives Leanne a job after he fires Keith.
Episode 4
The Wisdom of Solomon
Dr. Blitho's reputation and own words come back to haunt him when he is hit with a malpractice lawsuit by grieving parents who accuse him of refusing to treat their son. After being given a tour of the local landmarks by Evelyn Whaley with a clear ulterior motive, Laura mediates the dispute. Meanwhile, Ted tries to put a scare into Leane's ex-boyfriend, Zoe learns Blades' secret, and Jesse pesters Ted to teach him to fly.
Episode 5
Public Relations
When Ted is unable to find a suitable landing spot, Sissy breaks regulations by performing a risky parachute jump to an inaccessible homestead allowing her to save a young woman's life. A visit from a newspaper reporter gives the Broken Hill RFDS staff the opportunity to improve their public profile which has suffered of late. Initially hesitant to co-operate with the reporter, Dr Blitho decides to seize the chance to expose his colleagues antics but the result isn't what he expected. Jim is concerned about growing apart from Jesse as his son spends more and more time with Ted. Identifying him as a public relations disaster, Jim fires Dr. Blitho, moving him into a job as Broken Hill's new Medical Superintendent. Meanwhile, Vic is walking again, and Dennis finds a sympathetic ear while mourning the death of an old girlfriend.
Episode 6
Call Sign Cowboy
Laura unearths the reason behind a family feud when she presides over a seemingly minor legal dispute between two brothers fighting over stolen water. Leanne struggles to cope with harassing radio calls from her abusive ex. Dr. Blitho departs - but not before leaving assessments of all his co-workers.
Episode 7
Head on Collisions
Dr. Blitho begins his new job as the Acting Medical Superintendent in charge of the hospital. His first task is to look into Blades' background in an effort to get him out of the hospital and into a youth refuge. Desperate for friends, Jesse falls in with the wrong crowd and experiences his father's wrath when he is involved in a high-speed police chase. Ted struggles to occupy his day when a head-cold keeps him grounded.
Episode 8
Dragged from the Wreckage
Jim and Dennis are called out to attend a two car accident with multiple traumas (and one fatality) unaware that one of those involved is Jim's son, Jesse. An invitation to speak at a charity fundraiser leads Ted into a reunion with an old girlfriend. Meanwhile, Dr Blitho institutes a rash of changes at the hospital, and Blades adjusts to life in the youth refuge.
Episode 9
Cave In
Rebecca's relationship with Dr Blitho is put to the test after she takes the heat for his cutbacks. Sissy welcomes the arrival of her friend, a photojournalist from an English magazine who has come to do a story on the hospital. The team responds to the site of a mining accident where Sissy leads a dangerous underground rescue and must perform a life-changing procedure to save her friend's life. Meanwhile, Sissy schemes to keep Blades in the hospital after Blitho tries to have him discharged again, and Ted, still grounded, faces a court appearance after starting a fight in a pub.
Episode 10
Loss of Faith
Dennis Taylor, an admitted former addict, comes under suspicion when Rebecca discovers a discrepancy in the drug supply. Dr Blitho finds himself in search of another new job when he is removed from his role as Acting Medical Superintendent. Vic devises a new kitchen roster.
Episode 11
Poor Wandering One
Zoe solicits Dr. Wetherall's help for her best friend who is pregnant. When the girl takes extreme measures to terminate her pregnancy, she suffers severe brain damage leaving Sissy in a fight with the girl's mother about the fate of the unborn child. With rumours swirling about her relationship with Dr. Blitho, Vicki takes on the direction of the Broken Hill Light Operatic Society's production of The Pirates of Penzance.
Episode 12
Outback Justice
Zoe accompanies Jim on a flight to record video footage for a class assignment. When the flight is diverted to attend to two men injured in a welding explosion, Jim is forced to leave Zoe behind at the remote pipe-layer's camp to transport the injured men back to base. Laura is not pleased by his decision and suggests he wouldn't have done it if she was his daughter. Dennis and Penny wake up in bed together unsure of what did or did not happen between them the night before. The explanation turns out to be entirely innocent but that doesn't stop Dennis from trying to convince her otherwise. Jesse befriends a girl he met in a bookstore but she must soon appear before Laura when she is caught shoplifting. Vic installs a new phone at the hostel and there is plenty of blame to share when the first phone bill arrives.
Episode 13
End of the Road
Returning from vacation, Rebecca accepts a ride back to Broken Hill from a trucker leading to a frightening trip beside a drug-impaired driver. Investigating the transport company the driver works for, Rebecca discovers it is owned by Evelyn Whaley. Gail is brought into the hospital after a car accident and is discovered to have been under the influence of illegal drugs as well. Surprised by the return of her ex, Cowboy, Lauren takes out a restraining order against him in a futile effort to get him to leave her alone. In his determination to win her back, Cowboy reveals his involvement in the manufacture of illegal drugs but isn't on hand when the police raid the garage. When he later turns up dead from a gunshot wound, Lauren blames herself.