After an eventful Christmas, the villagers are settling back into their daily lives when a face from the past causes quite a stir.

Helen becomes a trainee nurse just as the hospital welcomes its most demanding patient, putting both Tom and Arthur in a difficult position. And tensions run high when a famous radio show arrives in Ormston.

Hubert Gough is convinced that his younger wife is going to leave him when a mysterious man arrives in the village. But what is Dennis Tyldesley's motive for being in Ormston?

Len and Linda have their hands full when their first foster child arrives and doesn't meet their expectations. Tom and Arthur are at loggerheads in the medical treatment of Rita Lennox, the woman sent by the brewery.

Tom is puzzled when local carpenter Bert Cartwright seems determined to keep him away, despite his wife's illness. Michael makes an exciting discovery, and the whole village becomes caught up in a hunt for buried treasure.

Ormston is on battle alert with news that a man from the ministry is arriving to supervise the destruction of the village for a motor highway.

Ormston is united in its determination to win the annual pub olympics, which this year means a hefty cash prize to buy Phyllis's pub back from the brewery.

When Jean's mother turns up for her daughter's wedding, she reveals a devastating secret to Tom which his oath as a doctor forbids him disclosing to anyone else.