Dr Martin Ellingham’s not in Portwenn! He’s moving ahead with his plan to return to the blood and guts world of surgery and is in London for a meeting with Robert Dashwood (guest star Nicholas Le Prevost), head of the interview panel for a top job as a surgeon. Believing that the Doc has conquered his blood phobia, Robert is confident Martin will get the job. But, in fact, the red stuff still makes the Doc pull those funny faces… His train ride back to Portwenn isn’t as successful as his London visit… Sitting next to him is one of his patients, Jim Selkirk, a noisy eater but a very quiet sleeper – because he’s died! Well, that’s the Doc’s diagnosis but Mrs Selkirk’s not so sure and tells the Doc she’s seeing visions of her husband! An even bigger problem is the Doc’s Aunt Joan. She had some schoolkids visiting her farm and locked one of them, Theo Wenn, in the chicken coop for being naughty. When the boy later falls ill, his mum and dad, Juliet and Richard, blame Joan and plan to sue her. Already in financial difficulty, Joan tells the parents a whopping lie that puts her in the clear. But she puts in the Doc in a very difficult position that only medical science can get him out of…
