• Air date: 16 Jun '88 36 episodes
      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...
  • List of Episodes (36)
    • 1. Clapped Out

      16 Jun '88
      The RFDS come to the rescue of two old timers trying to save their heritage from the rapacious George Baxter.
    • 2. Private Lives, Public Faces

      23 Jun '88
      A 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.
    • 3. Wedlock

      30 Jun '88
      A 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.
    • 4. The Wrangler's Daughter

      07 Jul '88
      A 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.
    • 5. Borrowed Time

      14 Jul '88
      A 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.
    • 6. The Forbidden

      21 Jul '88
      A 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
    • 7. She'll Be Right

      28 Jul '88
      Hurtle 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.
    • 8. One Final Request

      04 Aug '88
      Mike 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.
    • 9. Roxanne

      11 Aug '88
      Emma 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
    • 10. Don't Tell Anybody

      18 Aug '88
      A 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 deci
    • 11. No Way Back

      25 Aug '88
      Emma 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, E
    • 12. Johnnie Come Home

      01 Sep '88
      A 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!
    • 13. Look, Up In The Sky

      08 Sep '88
      Kate and Geoff are on their way to a clinic when two tyres puncture and they have to walk to the farm. When they get there, they see two hot air ballons coming. They belong to a family, consisting of Brian, Lorraine and their son Matt, and a work collegue...a young blonde called Kylie. Finally it's decided there is to be a balloon race, to raise fonds for the RFDS. Kate will be going with Matt, and Geoff with Brian. Geoff is hopeless on navigating, which makes Brian upset, he really wants to win
    • 14. Preacher Man

      15 Sep '88
      A preacher called Teddy Faithful is coming to town, and it is said he can perform miracles. At a meeting in the townhall, when everybody is there, he makes a blind man see again! Everybody is stunned, but later on it turnes out that it was all a fake. Brett, the man organizing all Teddy's activities, had hired the man to make everything look good. Teddy fires Brett and will leave on his own, along with Jenny Rose, a singer who now follows Teddy around and didn't know anything about Brett's lies
    • 15. The Fear (1)

      22 Sep '88
      Kimberly White is coming back to Coopers Crossing, to check on George Baxter. She brought her son Todd. Chris meets them at the airport, but Todd isn't very nice. The take a country drive, and stops in the middle of the outback to go for a walk. Todd stays by the car, but suddenly he gets frightened and starts running after Kimberly and Chris, screaming. He falls and hurts his leg. When they asked him what scared him, he says it was a snake. In hospital, Todd gets a bed next to a young boy named
    • 16. The Fear (2)

      29 Sep '88
      Todd is still in hospital, and getting therapy equipment organised from all around the district, but he still can't seem to go out. Kimberly buys him a brand new motorbike, thinking that will help him overcome his fear, but it doesn't. Sam and Emma suggests, that Todd could ride the motorbike at dawn, when nobody is around to see wether he makes it or not. Todd tries, and it works out fine. He decides to go on a clinic run with Chris, and when Sam has let Chris off, he flies Todd to Danny's prop
    • 17. Fair Go

      06 Oct '88
      The mailman, old Frank, is retiring, and he introduces the new mailman, Nick to everyone in the district. When Nick is taking over, he charges double Frank's prices, which makes everyone upset. A lady called Gail Morris wanted to get a lift with the mailplane to a clinic when she wasn't feeling good, but changed her mind when she found out what it would cost. Later on she was found unconcious, it turned out she was a diabetic. Nick realized his mistakes, and lowered the prices. George is told of
    • 18. Broken Airwaves

      13 Oct '88
      Kate thinks everybody takes her for granted and expects her to do things for them. She takes a holiday to go to Thargoomindah and watch the rodeo, and she brings her horse Toby. After a while her car gets overheated, so she stops and takes Toby for a ride. Something scares him, and Kate is thrown off and hits her head. When she wakes up she can't remember anything. She finds a deserted shed, and manages to get in contact with DJ at the base, but she doesn't know where she are. DJ gets her to tra
    • 19. Bed and Board

      20 Oct '88
      A new man in town, Ron, offers to work for bed and board at Sam and Emma's place. They need all the help they can get, and are greatful. It turns out Ron is the man who ran out on Maggie, when she was young and pregnant. Ron wants to make up for it, but Maggie turns him down.
    • 20. Breaking The Drought

      There's a bad drought in the neighbourhood, making everybody in a bad mood. Vic has to go to Broken Hill to get more beer, but Lucy, who will look after the pub, falls ill. Marty offers to help, but leaves the pub unattended. When he comes back, Paula has taken over, making him a bit upset. They decide to help, but everything gets out of hand, and the pub is totally wrecked. Emma is angry with Marty, for helping out at the pub instead of the garage and he fires him. When Vic gets back, he doesn'
    • 21. Family Secrets (1)

      Geoff's brother Barry arrives in town, much to everyones surprise. Geoff never talks about his family, but Barry seems really nice. Geoff isn't too happy about seeing his brother though, and makes him stay in the pub. Barry helps out with a lot of things, and he also organizes the building of the sports centre. He has been taking an intrest in Kate, especially after seeing Geoff is a bit intrested in her, and after the official opening of the sports centre Kate is upset with Geoff and Barry comf
    • 22. Family Secrets (2)

      Barry tells Kate Geoff has warned him off her. She gets upset and asks him out for dinner, which he of course accepts. Vic leaves Barry his bill, but he doesn't seem to be able to pay. Vic asks Geoff about it, and Geoff pays up right away. Barry later on takes Kate on a ride in ""the Beast"", he wants to talk about Geoff. When they stop Barry tries to talk Kate into coming with him to Surfer's. When she doesn't want to he tries to kiss her. Kate fights him off, resulting in him driving as a mani
    • 23. All You Need Is Luck

      A new nurse, Penny, arrives as a stand-in for Kate. This upsets Maggie, since she and Penny both are from Windoona, and Penny might have a few stories to tell about Maggie. Sam and Emma lets Maggie stay with them, and Maggie tells Emma she had a son when she was very young. The father had shot through, and therefor her son David was raised as her brother. When David turned 21 Maggie told him the truth, which made him run away. There's a big cattle sale going on in the district, and DJ meets a fr
    • 24. The Silly Season

      A man called Lloyd Somerset is out driving when he picks up a young man called Jamie. In the evening there's a terrible storm coming and suddenly Jamie sees some strange lights in front of the car. Lloyd doesn't say anything, he hasn't even told Jamie his name. All of a sudden, the lights appear again and the car is turned over! Geoff and Sam are on their way home from a clinic when the storm hits the plane, causing the electricity to malfunction. The compass is magnetic, and shouldn't be affect
    • 25. Every Situation

      Baxter has been on a political trip in Canberra, and got stuck with helping to young boys that had nowhere to stay. They make life miserable for him, and fooled around a lot on the radio. When Baxter threatened to have them sent back to Canberra, they caused him to crash with his plane. They didn't think he'd get hurt, but he did. He recovered in hospital though. Chris is feeling a bit run down, but won't admit it to anybody. Finally she agrees to let Geoff take some tests. Sam's new flying pupi