Marian is delighted to have moved away from her family home in Scotland but she sends most of her wages back every week. she gets off to a bad start with room mate Stella. Alun quickly falls for her obvious charm while Dr Banner gets all protective of the new girl on the wards.
He is a benign and greatly respected figure. The hospital was endowed by his grandfather at the turn of the century and in 1948 the charity was effectively nationalised and given to the NHS. He has run the place as a one-man band since then, assisted by Matron. But it is about to be swept away by new reforms. Middleditch retired in the last series but his character still appears.
A local girl, Stella has always been fun and lively. She tends to open her mouth without engaging her brain. Stella also has a track record of falling for Mr Wrong. But the sexual assault in episode six left her nervous and frightened. Her problems are ongoing.
Adam is Middleditch’s go-getting, ambitious replacement. Ex-RAF man Carnegie tends to rub staff up the wrong way with his modern approach. His attempts to raise private finance for a new hospital wing don’t go to plan and he faces calls to resign.
Ken’s hard-working and reliable daughter is meticulous. She is also a typical dizzy blonde with no imagination who takes everything quite literally. It has amusing results. Recently divorced, she is enjoying her newfound independence but is hoping she won’t have to stay on the shelf.
He’s a real dreamer who in another life would be a famous rock star. He’s the junior porter/theatre technician and when he’s not helping with general maintenance work or a scam, he’s taking patients down for surgery. Alun is always falling in (unrequited) love with the nurses.
Mr Rose is a general surgeon based at Ashfordly General and comes over once a week to carry out operations. He makes Lancelot Spratt look like Mary Poppins – a good surgeon but short of interpersonal skills. Aside from carrying out minor operations scrubbed up and masked, Mr Rose is rarely seen without his pipe – and always keen to get on the golf course.
Dr Weatherill is in her mid-30s, attractive and one of the new breed of doctors. She’s striking a blow for women’s equality in the medical profession, which often leads her into conflict with Matron and Mr Rose. Determined, she can be quick to jump to conclusions. Married to Dr Ormerod, Jill has settled back into the routine of hospital work following the birth of their baby.
Experienced senior partner, Ormerod has worked at The Royal for many years. His first wife Caroline was brain damaged in a bus crash and went into a coma. She was treated in an iron lung at The Royal and died of heart failure. Caroline’s condition, with its associated emotions of grief and guilt, was a major spanner in the works for his relationship with Dr Weatherill.
As Dr Goodwin’s replacement, Dr Banner has settled into his new role at the hospital. His scruffy appearance elicits some comments from some of the more established members of staff but he proves popular with the younger ones – particularly Stella and new nurse Marian.
Sister Brigid is an utterly professional and very Irish nun. Her manner is brusque but every so often a chink in her armour reveals a very caring, sympathetic nature. There’s a lot to her we don’t know about but there are hints that she’s come from a troubled background. She has a soft spot for Dr Ormerod.
Matron has run the hospital for the past 20 years in partnership with Middleditch, as sergeant major to his colonel. Her position has been shaken by the arrival of Carnegie. A strict disciplinarian, she is fiercely protective of her nurses and is not afraid of standing up to anyone. The practice doctors may try to avoid her but if she feels they need to be put right about anything, her ability to track them down verges on the mystical.
Likeable, laddish and incapable of telling women the truth, Frankie attracts trouble like a moth to a flame. He’s tried his hand at doing something worthy by working as a ward orderly in an attempt to train as a nurse, but it didn’t suit him and he returned to ambulance driving which allows him to get a bit more of the action rather than scrub bed pans all day.
