Thanks to Martin C. for this description. :-)

At Camelot, Terence is packing to go and visit Alex and Cris is sewing buttons on shirt. At Boolaroo, Cathy is helping Matt to rehearse his radio voice as he will participate in a ring-in program on the local radio station. Lucy is getting ready to go to the hospital. She is eager to meet Sandy MacIntosh, the locum that will be there when Terence is away visiting Alex. MacIntosh is an old friend of Cris's. Lucy wants to invite Sandy and Cris to dinner. Terence and Cris meet Dr.MacIntosh at the hospital. MacIntosh seems preoccupied and a little rude to Terence. Maggie says she heard he was sitting a fellowship but MacIntosh irritably says he failed and that it was not because of his work but because he was not in the elite. He leaves. Lucy comes in and invites Cris to bring MacIntosh to dinner that evening at Boolaroo. In the Club Shirley, Cookie, Bob and Esme are discussing a chain letter. It is one that doesn't ask for money bu promises extremely bad luck if the chain is broken. There is discussion about whether it should be believed or not and the conclusion is that there is some truth in such matters.

Matt is at the radio station to participate in "What a morning" with the host Clover Owen-Jones. He is the guest of the program in his capacity as vet. The first caller to ring in tells Matt that her budgie does rude things in front of the mirror in its cage. Matt looks a little surprised and uncomfortable at this call but regains his composure and asks some questions. He says her budgie is suffering from Randy Bird Syndrome and the caller's response is to asks if it is fatal. A group in the Club are listening to the radio and have a good laugh. Esme is out walking and meets a little girl called Kylie and her dog, Freckles. Kylie complains that her mum didn't give her $5 to go on an excursion but $10 for postage for some letters that were all the same. She says she is going to the post office to post the letters. When Esme leaves her, Kylie throws letters in a wastepaper bin and puts the money in her pocket. Freckles eats a piece of meat that is lying on the ground and immediately lies down and looks unwell. At the hospital, one of the patients, Mrs. Potter, is having difficulty breathing. MacIntosh is very offhand but gives a concise diagnosis to Cris. Back at the radio station Matt gets a lady on the phone telling him about a strange bird in the park which she cannot identify and gets him to make bird noises. It is Cathy ringing from the Club. She slips up in her phoney voice, though, and Matt recognizes her. He looks angry but then regains his composure and suggest s it is the sound of a pair of jealous females fighting over a male and that she should take a tape recorder into the park next time she goes there. The next caller is Kylie who says Freckles is dying.

At the hospital, Cris and MacIntosh are discussing Mrs. Potter's condition. She has a pulmonary embolism, MacIntosh is irritated. Cris says MacIntosh is invited to Boolaroo for dinner and he unwillingly accepts. Matt leaves the radio station and Clover invites him back for the next program. At Boolaroo, Cathy and Lucy are cooking and Cathy burns the steak. After the arrival of Cris and MacIntosh, Lucy tries to play the piano while Cathy talks to MacIntosh. They agree to go riding the day after. Discussion at the dinner table is stilted. At Matt's surgery Kylie is very upset but Freckles is OK. Kylie doesn't want to let her mum know Freckles was ill as she says it was all her fault. Back at Boolaroo, Cris says he likes the food which Lucy explains is Salvation Chicken (rather than the steak that Cathy burned). MacIntosh is looking uneasy. Cathy says she got letters from Alex that seem to say she's happy doing her job in the bush. MacIntosh looks unwell and excuses himself. Cris goes out after him. MacIntosh says he cannot handle social life any more. He is feeling scared because he failed his examination for the fellowship twice. Cris says he has to calm down. He can take the exam again later and has to consider life's other aspects. Cris goes back in and MacIntosh gets into his car and takes a syringe out of the glove compartment. The next day, Kylie goes back to the rubbish bin where she threw away her mothers letters and takes them back while muttering that Freckles would die.

At the clinic MacIntosh comes in bright and chirpy. The first patient is Esme who talks about meditation and a sleepless night. She tells MacIntosh to sit down and perhaps consider meditation. Kylie delivers her mother's letters herself but, when she drops one in to Boolaroo, Cathy turns up and Kylie rides off. Back at the clinic Esme is happy with MacIntosh's way of treating her. Listening and giving advice instead of tablets. Lucy arrives and gives MacIntosh a Mr. Fletcher's X-rays. MacIntosh apologises for his beaviour the night before but Lucy says she wants to talk to him alone. Macintosh understands it is about Cris. At the vet's surgery, Cathy gives Matt the letter Kylie put in her letterbox and they begin to understand Kylie's behaviour. MacIntosh tells Lucy about Cris's background up to the funeral of his wife. He tells Lucy that it would be good if Cris got married again, but Lucy says she feels insecure in her relationship with Cris as she is not a mouse to stay quitely in the background. She likes to work with him but feels insecure as she had a relationship with a doctor before. Shirley comes in and says everyone is needed at the hospital. There has been a traffic accident with multiple victims and heavy injuries. Several people, including children, are involved in the accident. Some have been sent to Burrigan and others flown to Sydney. A man with head injuries and his son who has internal bleeding and a damaged spleen are taken to the Wandin Valley hospital. MacIntosh and Cris decide to operate on the son first as they believe the father may not survive the narcosis in his present state.

Kylie is still delivering letters in the rain when Cathy catches up with her and tells her Freckles is OK. Kaylie tells Cathy she has one letter to deliver and is very superstitious about the bad luck she will experience if she doesn't deliver it. Cathy offers to put her bike in the car and deliver the last letter. At the Club, Bob comes in and tells Cookie everyone is at the post office buying stamps. Esme comes in with lots of letters for Bob and Cookie. All are chain letters. Bob says sending on 20 times 20 letters letters mean $150 in postage. They joke about having to sell the house to be able to afford the stamps. Esme tells them they will have bad luck if they break the chain. At the hospital, the operation finishes OK after three hours. MacIntosh is pushing himself and hardly accepts a break before starting the next operation. At the vet's, Kylie explains to Matt and Cathy about the money her mother gave her to post the letters. Matt explains about the chain letters and rips up Cathy's letter. Kylie wants to give him the $10 for saving Freckles but Matt says no. At the hospital the father dies and doesn't respond to defibrilation. MacIntosh gets very upset and Cris says it wasn't his fault. When MacIntosh tells Lucy to inform the man's wife of his death, Cris tells Lucy and Maggie that MacIntosh had a momentary lapse of concentration and would naturally be the one to inform the dead man's wife himself. Cris and MacIntosh discuss the death of the patient. They argue and MacIntosh asks for a minute alone before talking to the man's wife. At the Club, Bob complains about bad luck on the one armed bandit. Matt and Cathy come in and meet Esme, Bob, and Cookie. Cathy tells them about Kylie's fear of the chain letter and Matt says its ridiculous. Bob and Cookie disappear quickly. Matt wins the jackpot on a one armed bandit.

At the hospital MacIntosh starts to take a syringe while Lucy and Cris stand outside the room. Lucy says that she is worried about MacIntosh. He comes out and seems hazy. He asks the name of the dead man's wife and leaves. Later in the hall at Camelot Cris is on the phone to Lucy inviting her and Cathy to dinner in Burrigan when MacIntosh, who is in the living room, turns on the stereo at high volume. Cris can't hear his conversation, finishes, goes in to the living room and asks why Macintosh is acting in the way he is. MacIntosh says it is because he lost a life today and because his life is not working out however hard he tries. At Boolaroo Cathy and Matt are playing backgammon and bantering as usual. Matt asks why he isn't invited to dinner and Cathy says it is due to his suave appearance (jeans and T-shirt). Lucy leaves and Cathy says she doesn't have any clothes other than jeans and shirts. Matt says she could make something. Back at Camelot MacIntosh tells Cris that he has no job after the locum period in Wandin Valley and no future or socal life. It is completely dark and Bob is driving his ute back home from Magnolia Vale. He covers up something in the back of the ute before going in. At the breakfast table at Camelot Esme comes in with the morning paper and says how terrible it was that someone died on the operating table. Cris remarks that nothing is written in the paper about lives that were saved. MacIntosh looks very uncomfortable. After MacIntosh leaves Esme hears he is going riding with Cathy. Naturally she says she thought Cris was going out with Cathy. He says no and Esmes muses that it must be Lucy then.

At the Club Bob comes in with box of fruit and vegetables as Cookie is eating breakfast. Cookie complains that some are missing. Frank comes in and has vegetables with him and says that they are all over town. Bob and Cookie go out to collect them and Frank takes a some food off Cookie's breakfast plate. At Boolaroo Cathy starts to put material and a pattern on the kitchen table. Lucy asks what it is. Cathy tries to hide it and asks Lucy to leave it alone. Back at Club, Bob and Cookie come in with a box of battered and bruised fruit. At hospital Eddie, a drunk, is taken in and given treatment for a cut. MacIntosh talks to Maggie about the condition of the boy who survived the car crash. Cris comes in and Maggie says that while both of them are together she must ask a question. Two vials of pethadine were written out and only one was accounted for. MacIntosh says he dropped it and forget to mention it. At the Club Cookie is going to take all the fruit and veg home and Bob asks where the keys to the ute are as he can't find them. They take Cookie's car instead. Cookie asks where Bob had been so late the night before and after some pursuasion Bob tells him that he went to McDonald's in Burrigan and then to a drive-in movie where he and his lady friend talked. Cookie asks if he wants him to move out. A paw touches Cookie's back and he thinks it is Bob and tells him to cut it out. After this repeats a couple of times Cookie stops the car and they see a monkey on the back seat with Bob's keys.

At Boolaroo, Cathy is having problems with her sewing. MacIntosh comes for his riding trip with Cathy. Cathy goes to get changed and asks Lucy not to touch her dress. Matt is on the phone in his surgery telling someone that there are no monkeys in Wandin Valley. As he puts down the phone Bob and Cookie come in with the monkey which they see has lost a leg. Frank comes in, shouting that there is a monkey on the loose. MacIntosh and Cathy are out riding and seem to be enjoying it. He asks her if she is a member of the Cris Kouros fan club and is told she gave up long ago. At Matt's surgery they are trying to find out the origin and condition of the monkey. Frank has to take the monkey into custody and remarks that it can't be worse than some of the other house guests that they have had. Cathy and MacIntosh have gotten off their hores and are looking at the view over the Park. Cathy asks MacIntosh why he became a doctor. He said he didn't really think about it but complains about the politics in nursing. He says there can't be any such problems in a ranger's job but Cathy says there are. She suggest he needs relaxation and Wandin Valley is a good place to get it. MacIntosh tries to kiss her. She says it's not what she wants, though, and she pushes him away. MacIntosh said he thought it was. Back at the stables , MacIntosh clumsily apolgises for his treatment and gets a short reply from Cathy. He leaves and ignores Lucy's greetings. Lucy asks Cathy what was wrong and doesn't really get an answer. At the clinic Shirley is talking to Esme on the phone about Cathy but finishes as MacIntosh comes in. She asks if he enjoyed his ride and recieves a terse answer. He goes into his office.

Lucy is asking Cathy what happened on the ride and Cathy says she doens't like MacIntosh. Lucy says he is under stress as he lost a patient yesterday and Cathy seems a little less wrought. At the hospital Cris and Maggie are discussing patients in her office when Lucy comes in early. She asks Cris if they can get out of the dinner and Cris asks why. Lucy explains and Cris says he had always turned to MacIntosh for help when he started as a doctor and when his wife died. Now he is worried about him. At the clinic a patient comes early and when Shirley goes into MacInosh's office she catches him sticking a needle in his arm. She hurriedly shuts the door and looks aghast. A couple of minutes later he goes out and cancels all appointments that afternoon. Shirley immediately rings Cris. At Boolaroo Cathy is upset about the way the dress is turning out and still feels hurt after her afternoon ride with MacIntosh. She cries on Matt's shoulder and he promises to help her with the dress if she will unburden her problems on him. At Boolaroo Cris confronts MacIntosh about his drug use and asks if he operated under their influence. No never, says MacIntosh. He says he will stop but Cris says that is too late as he has betrayed their friendship and endangered the hospital. MacIntosh says it was because he was turned down by The College of Surgeons and drugs helped him to cope. Cris says he needs help and MacIntosh says he doesn't want to be struck off. Cris tells him they should sleep on what to do to solve the problem.

At the Gilroys the monkey gets loose in the middle of the night. Frank tries to tempt her down with a banana but fails and gets bitten. It's chaos. At Boolaroo Matt is still sewing Cathy's dress and is doing a good job. When Lucy comes in he hurriedly stops and pretends it was Cathy sewing. He learned sewing years ago helping a friend sew sails but he doesn't want anyone to know he can sew. He says she can finish off the hand sewing on the dress. The morning after Cris talks to MacIntosh and discusses what to do. He suggests MacIntosh report it himself because if Cris reports him he will get struck off. Cris leaves for the hospital and MacIntosh answers the phone. Maggie informs him that the boy who was operated on is having problems. Matt comes into the dining room at Boolaroo in pyjamas and Cathy is just finishing the dress. She picks it up and the table cloth follows along too...she's sewn the two together. Back in Maggies office Shirley is telling Maggie about the monkey and that Frank first got bitten by the monkey and then trod on Fatso's foot and got bitten again. Cris comes in and tells Shirley it was right that she told him about MacIntosh. Maggie informed Cris that MacIntosh is looking after the little boy and Cris says that afterwards MacIntosh is no longer on-call. MacIntosh is competently instructing a nurse how to treat the boy and seems quite calm. Frank, with bandage on hands and limping, gives the monkey back to Matt.

A circus owner arrives to collect the monkey. He hobbles over on one leg. Frank looks aghast. At the hospital MacIntosh tells Maggie to send a culture to lab and when Cris arrives he rings to the state medical board to report himself. Later at Camelot MacIntosh has packed to leave and Cris seems relieved that he could report his drug misuse. At Boolaroo Cathy comes down in her new dress and looks stunning. Lucy goes out to feed the chooks and Matt asks what happened with MacIntosh. Cathy aks him if she sends out the wrong signals to men as she always seems to have problems but then invites Matt to the dinner in Burrigan for helping with the dress. Cris is on the phone to Jessica. As he finishes Terence arrives home early and is not too happy. He didn't see so much of Alex as she didn't have time for him. He says his visit was almost an irritation for Alex. Cris wonders perhaps if she just needed more time. Terence looks really worried.