Episode list

Unorthodox Dr Daniel Nash admits paranoid schizophrenic and ex-drug abuser Billy McLeod to Muirpark Psychiatric hospital. Dr Kate Millar believes Billy should be medicated and Nash's superior Dr Harvey thinks Billy is using the hospital as a free hotel. Nash,however,thinks that Billy is genuinely frightened of people who are literally coming to get him and,after Billy is discharged,Nash is proved right as he and Kate have to save Billy. New doctor Martine Nichol is perplexed that the incredibly articulate Barry Dixon should be under a section,until she observes his behaviour at the ward round and Dr Shug Nevin,whose girlfriend has just left him,is as depressed as the patients. It is Nash though who is seeing a doctor who prescribes him lithium.

Elderly Catherine Davies is admitted in a malnourished state,barely conscious and Dr Karen Smith believes she should be given electric shock treatment to rouse her. However Catherine's arrogant son Gavin crashes into the hospital,threatening Karen if she proceeds with the treatment. In the event Karen is proved right and the blustering Gavin seen to be neglecting his mother. Suicidal Colin Goodall appears to have rallied after Nash gets him talking about his favourite subject,football,especially the team Colin supports - Motherwell. Nash takes him to a game before Colin is discharged to live with his sister but she is disapproving and this ends in disaster,causing Harvey to question Nash's methods. Shug's girlfriend spectacularly reappears whilst Shug himself has to deal with two patients who believe they are Jesus Christ.

Following Colin's suicide his sister Moira is admitted to the ward and indulges in self-harming. She is angry and bitter but,by fabricating a sister of his own who supposedly died of a drug overdose,Nash makes headway with Moira as she admits to guilt over the death of her twin sister Jackie. However Nash has deliberately refrained from taking the lithium needed to control his manic depression and instigates an impromptu and very wild dance therapy session on the ward. Furthermore he meets up with Chris Gilhooley,an out-patient,in a wine bar and ends up having sex with her in a toilet.

Nash eventually recovers and starts to take his lithium again. He apologizes and explains the situation to Chris Gilhooley, who agrees not to report him before he hands her over to another psychiatrist. Martine deals with teenager Luke Gannon,who has been swallowing his parents' gold jewellery,claiming it is an antidote as they are trying to poison him. Martine eventually learns that Luke's father is always buying his wife gold jewellery after one of their many rows, a fact which clears the way for family therapy. Kate is surprised when her boyfriend Iain turns up and appears to have had a fling with Karen in the past whilst Martine agrees to give two-timing ex-lover Ben a chance. Shug,arriving home early, walks in on Gill having sex with a young lad.

Schoolgirl Lisa Burns is found wandering on a busy road and,after she has been admitted to the ward,it turns out she has had a baby daughter,whom she has dumped and refuses to acknowledge. When another patient tries to steal the baby Luke Gannon comes to the rescue and helps Lisa come to terms with being a mother. However the baby's immature father arrives to take Lisa and the child home. Shug,already upset over Gill,and under pressure about his upcoming exams,gives a patient the wrong tablets whilst Kate,also about to sit the exam,finds that she and Iain are not as suited as they once were and Martine spurns Ben's attempts at reconciliation.

Friday the Thirteenth lives up to its reputation at Muirpark with a patient's dog on the loose and violent new admission Jed Scott who claims voices tell him to hurt people going head to head with the articulate and charismatic Mark Collins,who has admitted himself to 'see if he is mad' and who talks to Nash like an equal. Chaos reigns when Valerie,a patient terrified that something bad will happen,angers Scott and Mark and Nash step in to defuse the situation. But the real horror is perpetrated by Shug,who,unlike Kate,has failed his exams and has totally gone to pieces.