Steve is confronted by an addict who challenges all his medical and personal convictions. Jack races against time with an acutely schizophrenic woman about to give birth. Charlotte and Bart are set up by Frank to have their medical abilities (and their diplomacy skills) tested during a hospital training day. Jack tells Gabrielle that he'd like to accept her offer of accommodation. Steve is less than thrilled.

The Circle of Life

Judith McGrath

Mark Priestley

Jack Campbell

Andrew Supanz

Jolene Anderson

Wil Traval

Tammy Macintosh

John Howard

Allison Cratchley

Virginia Gay

John Waters

Kip Gamblin

Ella Scott Lynch

Ian Gilmour

That Window in Time

Stepping Up

Frank's leadership is put to the ultimate test when the ED team is held hostage and a deadly plan unfolds. In the bedlam that follows, threats are made, tempers are stretched and lives are lost. And at the end of it, Frank makes a decision that looks likely to cost him his job.

Against the Wall (2)

In the aftermath of the siege, Frank finds himself under fire from Admin for his comments to the media. The ED team are confronted by the arrival of one of their captors after a police shooting. Charlotte and Dan are challenged by a woman with a chronic case of hiccups, Jack and Erica deal with an uncommunicative beating victim, Von struggles to come to terms with her feelings about the hostage taking, and a mistake in pathology results puts patients at risk.

The Simple Things

Frank hatches a plan to win the hearts and minds of the other department heads. Meanwhile, Bart and Ann-Maree return from holidays so she can undergo another set of tests. A routine homecare visit turns into a trauma for Von. And Steve and Dan learn a lesson about the human side of medicine as they take care of a homeless man.

Comfort Zone

Bart tries to find comfort and distraction in work only to come up against one of the most difficult challenges he's had to face. Mike donates a kidney to save his son's life, but will old memories change his life? Von realises an incident from her past is not dead and buried when Dominic arrives with a bad infection resulting from poor follow-up care.

Event Horizon

Another of Steve's secrets is revealed as he, Dan and Charlotte treat a young woman who has attempted suicide. Ann-Maree, suffering considerable pain, is still refusing to contemplate any further cancer treatment and Bart is torn between respecting her wishes and doing everything within his power to prolong her life. Frank is wary of Elizabeth's presence in the ED after her recent confession that she has been working as Oliver's lackey. However, at the end of the day she informs him of an important decision about her future. Jack and Erica are forced to play medical detectives when tending to a retired barrister suffering from chronic pain despite no apparent change in the medication administered to him by his loving daughter and full time carer. Mike struggles to deal with intense post-op pain without morphine.

Caught in a Trap

Kimberly Dyer is brought into the ED in the throes of a seizure. While Charlotte and Erica fight to stabilise the girl, they quickly realise there's more going on here than meets the eye. And all the while, a worried mother is being supported by Von, who is becoming increasingly suspicious of her motives. Conor Mayes, out of a mysterious reluctance to avoid hospitals, has set his broken ankle in a homemade concrete cast. Getting it off him is their first challenge, identifying why he'd go to such extreme measures to avoid medical help becomes their second. After an unpopular directive issued to the ED draws the battle lines between Emergency Staff and Admin, Zoe attempts to nullify the situation by meeting with Oliver Maroney herself. But she is not at all prepared for the conversation that ensues... will she end up as Oliver's new spy against Frank? Bart realises the toll Ann-Maree's return to hospital has taken — she's exhausted, depressed and resentful of the emotional blackmail that put her back in a ward room. Has he made an error in pushing her into this? By day's end, he'll know the answer — and will be struggling with a new question when she tells him she needs him to do one last, and very final, thing for her.

Careful What You Wish For

An horrific car accident is not the only reason behind Frank and Charlotte having to fight for a patient's life. Ann-Maree's health is deteriorating rapidly. Bart finds it impossible to be by her side until he can find some kind of answer to the awful request she made of him. Bart's attempts to throw himself into work backfire as he deals badly with a woman who is unable to make a commitment to her treatment. Mike, unable to work so soon after his kidney donation, gets under Frank's feet in the ED. Zoe is caught liaising with the Director of Medicine who is gunning for Frank's scalp. Has she accepted his offer to replace Frank as the Director of Emergency Medicine?

Little Decisions

Frank is called to the dying Ann-Maree's bedside by Von who is very conscious of the fact that Bart is unable to say good-bye and give her permission to die. Frank tells Bart that he has to put his own needs out of the equation and that this is a battle that can't be won and is about being selfless. His words of advice will resonate with Frank once he realizes the danger his his battle with Admin is putting the ED in.

Dan's plans to propose to Erica are ruined by the frenetic pace of the ED which also causes Erica to make a near fatal mistake when she is called away from an ICU patient for another emergency, causing the ICU patient's near death.

Steve and Dan are kept busy in Resus with a patient who has a mysterious abdominal bleed.

Jack is occupied by a mysterious Father Paul who he attempts to keep in the Psych Obs room until he can be seen.

As the ED comes under more pressure from Admin, Frank makes a decision that will impact on all those around him.

Beginnings

Dan, Erica and Jack are running late for work when they find a middle aged woman on the bonnet of Dan's car. After she is taken via ambulance to All Saints, it is soon discovered that her incoherence and her physical frailty are the result of Huntington's disease. In treating her and in talking with her daughter, Dan comes to an important decision about his own health.

Charlotte, Erica and Jack treat a young man struggling to come to terms with what he has done to his body.

On his first day back at work, Mike is thrown into the middle of a major trauma.

Bart comes into the ED to announce that Ann-Maree died the night before.

The ED is stunned to learn the news about Frank's sudden resignation.

When Tomorrow Comes

Zoe, Jack and Dan fight to save the life of a young burns victim, having no idea how complex the situation will get when his mother arrives in the ED and asks them not to take further action to actively resuscitate him.

Charlotte and Gabrielle struggle to unravel the mystery of a young woman who presents with severe stomach pain.

Frank is summoned to a meeting with Admin. The ED Staff wait anxiously to learn the outcome of their collective agreement to strike.

Dan awaits the results of his tests. He tells Erica that he won't repeat the treatment if the results are still positive for Hep C. Bart, Von and Frank attend Ann-Maree's funeral.

Out of the Fire

It Ain't Necessarily So

Cody is delivered to the ED after being hit by a car, and what appears to be a fairly straight forward case becomes a medical mystery with the patient declaring his long list of bad luck is the result of a curse.

Charlotte's day has started off badly, Zac's still unwell and she's had to call in Rhiannon for the first time to look after him for the day. Charlotte can feel the weight of the world starting to lift off her shoulders but we're left wondering if all is as it seems.

Meanwhile, in the ED, Ashleigh, a mother who is completely exhausted by caring for her young son who has recently been diagnosed with autism, is admitted after a collapse. When Ashleigh's husband, Theo, arrives in the ED, it's obvious to all that he's not the supportive partner she most needs.

Gabrielle finds herself stretched to the limit when an Agency Nurse fails to show and in her dealing with Sebastian, an optimistic, corporate life coach with an appetite for dangerous sexual practices.

The Hand You're Dealt

The unexpected awakening of a comatose patient brings new trauma to the man's wife while igniting old feelings between Gabrielle and Steve. Dan's paraplegic brother, Luke, is brought in following a wheelchair basketball accident, but the secrets the two brothers are keeping from each other threaten Luke's recovery and Dan and Erica's relationship. Charlotte joins the Medical Rescue Unit for the first time, the final hurdle before she attains her Emergency Fellowship.

Disagreement over the treatment of a husband and wife involved in an car accident brings Steve and Jack into conflict. Angus, just twenty years old and with a burning ambition to become an international soccer player, has his dreams shattered by a surprising diagnosis. Charlotte finds herself in an awkward predicament when she confronts Rhiannon about her growing attraction towards Bart. Dan's brother Luke is uncomfortable about disrupting Dan's life.

When a young pregnant woman is admitted after collapsing, the team are faced with a moral and ethical dilemma when they discover who the father is. A man is brought in having been bashed. What first appears to be a random act of violence turns out to be much worse. Erica meets Dan's parents, but doesn't get the warm welcoming she'd hoped for in a day that ends in tragedy with the Goldmans racing a family member to hospital.

Never Tell

Mike, Jack and Erica attempt to help a man whose foolish attempt to impress his much younger wife has left him at risk of becoming a paraplegic. Charlotte and Zoe work well together while treating a reluctant hero, causing problems for Frank, who has been handed an unpleasant ultimatum from Admin. Steve, Bart and Gabrielle fight to save the life of a man who, along with his dim-witted brother, traffics highly unusual goods. Dan attempts to keep his mind on the job as his father's life hangs in the balance in another hospital.

Risky Business

Charlotte is forced to contemplate her future at All Saints when she learns that there's no room for her there as a Fellow in the ED, as long as Zoe has that job. Bart, Erica and Steve struggle to care for a man suffering from an apparent psychotic break down.

Having bonded with Charlotte during a patient's care, Rhiannon misreads the situation and makes a move on Charlotte, which Charlotte politely pulls out of. Rhiannon takes it badly and her fears that the truth will be discovered, leading her to a decision that could end Charlotte's career.

When Jack, Zoe, Mike and Gabrielle disagree on treatment for what might be the world's longest splinter, Zoe finds herself alienated by Frank for the second time that day when he sides against her.

After attending his father's funeral without her, Dan has bad news for Erica — he's invited his mother and brother to move in.

Under My Skin

A woman on the brink of marriage is revealed to have a shocking legacy from the past when her x-rays reveal not one but a number of needles embedded into her bowels and other organs. Von helps an elderly man make a decision about his future after his wife is admitted to the ED suffering from Alzheimer's and advanced pneumonia. Jack and Bart try to help a previous patient [ep 10.23] but it soon becomes apparent that their original treatment might be the cause of her current pain and nothing they can do now will take that pain away. At day's end, Frank pays Charlotte a visit, determined to motivate her to fight Rhiannon's accusation but instead finding her ready to give up and walk away.

Blind Faith

Von is approached for help in the Hospital car park but when she finds herself in an abandoned tram factory, she has reason to regret her decision. She finds a pregnant woman in labour, a husband who fears the repercussions of their discovery, and a Government worker willing to risk it all to do the right thing — and Von can't walk away. Frank and Bart try to save the life of a woman who believes her husband will never forgive her for involving their son in a car accident. Steve and Mike treat a man who has been gored by a wild animal and has survived 36 hours in bushland. Jack helps Charlotte decide how to fight the allegations made against her. Zoe has news for Frank about her career.

Torn Apart

Rhiannon convinces Charlotte to meet her away from All Saints in the hope of finding a way to reconcile their differences. Their showdown is interrupted by a brutal hit and run accident that will ultimately bring tragedy to the ED. Von finds an unlikely ally in her quest to help a family of illegal immigrants. With plans for a Registry Office wedding at the end of their shift, Dan and Erica spend the day anticipating their new lives together. But, as the moment draws closer, second thoughts start to creep in. Frank has to counsel Jack after treating a dying patient.

Justice for None

Charlotte's day in court arrives. Her plan rests squarely on the strength of her character, but while her reputation as a doctor is impeccable, it is her personal life that is called into question once she takes the stand. Will Charlotte's plan backfire? Or will Rhiannon finally gather the courage to tell the truth?

Steve attends to a young woman who is suffering burns to her face and neck. It's obvious the pair know each other but neither are forthcoming about how which piques Gabrielle's curiosity and dormant feelings for Steve.

A young woman is torn between the friend she's always loved and the man she is in love with when the pair are admitted to the ED with severe injuries.

Bart rethinks his friendship with Erica and Dan when Erica's tries to involve him in decisions relating to her wedding.

Fearless and Searching

A traumatised Charlotte brings Rhiannon into the ED after Rhiannon has attempted to end her life. As Frank, Jack and Gabrielle battle to save Rhiannon's life, Charlotte confronts the one person she thinks caused it all — Rhiannon's father.

Erica and Steve are kept in the dark when Von and Mike take over the illegal refugee, Nadir's case. Faced with the prospect of their actions being discovered, Von and Mike take unprecedented action to keep all those who come in contact with Nadir, in the dark.

Dan and Bart deal with a patient who has to make a life/death choice. The mother of the patient finally has to accept that her son is the only one who can make this choice and once she does, Dan learns what Bart has already learnt — that sometimes love equals letting go.

With renewed commitment, Dan finally confronts his mother who has been battling out wedding plans with Erica's mother and only adding to the tension of getting married.

Blood Lines

Erica's hens night takes a turn for the worse when a pole dancing class goes wrong and the instructor comes off the pole and injures her wrist. But with Charlotte struggling to find her balance between her new 2-IC duties and doctoring the woman, will she miss a far more sinister diagnosis?

A teenage boy is brought in with horrendous injuries resulting from the collision between a shopping trolley he was riding in and a car. When his father arrives he is devastated to see his son barely clinging on to life. Erica is witness to the depth of love the father has for his son when the man discovers the accident is now on the internet for all the world to see and takes drastic measures to have it removed.

Dan is assigned a patient who has chronic prostatitis and is given food for thought about his own troubles at home.

Sons and Lovers

When a homecare patient is brought in after taking a lethal drug combination, it's up to Von, Bart and Frank to work out whether or not it was an accident. Dan reassesses his impending buck's night after two very drunk mates come in after a shocking accident. Erica helps a patient with a cardiac irregularity maintain a positive outlook. Charlotte does her best not to falter as Frank continues to inundate her with paperwork.

Horses for Courses

Frank's niece Amy starts work in the ED and makes a mistake which has tragic consequences for a patient. While treating a farmer brought into the ED after a tractor accident, Steve and Mike both go down with a mystery illness forcing Frank to take over an emergency surgery. Elsewhere, Erica looks after a young English woman dying from cystic fibrosis. Erica, Von and Bart try desperately to keep Stella alive long enough for her to be able to give her parents a final goodbye. Dan's pre-wedding night is ruined when he is witness to a tragedy.

Wish List

Tragedy puts Erica and Dan's wedding at risk, with multiple traumas hitting the ED and Dan feeling responsible for the accident that brought them in.

Dan feels helpless when a pre-wedding gag organised by his brother goes wrong and Dan finds himself tied to a tree while a horrific accident occurs right in front of him. Extricating himself from his bonds, Dan does his best to keep the casualties alive and calm while he waits for help.

A woman has been badly injured and her husband's panic complicates Dan's attempts to assess and administer first aid to her. The van carrying the goons who "kidnapped" him is a mess and Dan has to rally the less injured drunks to help him

Best Laid Plans 3

Mike bonds with a patient whose life story echoes his own; Von acts as intermediary for a young man whose only hope of life lies with the family he's never met; and Jack tries to get through to a woman who refuses to face reality.

When Laszlo, a middle aged man and professional Skydiver, arrives at All Saints after a skydiving accident, the team are expecting the worst. It soon transpires that Mike has a very dim view of skydivers, and the deliberate dangers they submit themselves to. But when Mike discovers Laszlo, like himself, was born to European, post WWII immigrants, is also unmarried and is as single mindedly focused on his profession, he begins to feel a bond to the man. Laszlo believes that he has almost complete control over his destiny, but when things take an alarming turn for the worse medically, he is forced to put his trust in Mike.

Meanwhile, Dan and Erica return from their honeymoon to find things tense and awkward between Gabrielle and Jack while Bart seeks to mend fences with Amy, seeing her in a new light as she deals with a difficult patient.

Echoes

Frank and Mike come face to face with a cold-blooded killer in solitary confinement at a high security prison who forces them both to reconsider where their lives are going. While watching Steve and Amy very closely as they deal with what looks like a desperate suicide attempt, Gabrielle begins to question where Steve's motives lie. Bart's frustrated by hospital delays as his young female patient suffers unbearable pain. With Frank away, Charlotte is left to run the ED and, in the process, learns that All Saints' new doctor isn't all he appears to be.

Solitary Confinement

Charlotte and Mike clash over the best way to deal with a patient, who has sustained a head injury in a road accident. As the woman is a single mother Charlotte wants to take no chances and she pushes for early surgery. But Mike believes surgery is unwarranted and adopts a wait and see approach. The situation is complicated by a daughter who seems to have no other family to turn to.

Frank is making an effort to throw Amy and Bart together, not knowing just how little professional respect Bart has for his niece. Their patient, Craig suffers from frequent fainting spells, but when Amy takes matters into her own hands, deliberately bringing on another attack in order to prove her point, Bart is forced to confront Frank about her attitude and her shortcomings as a nurse, and Amy is forced to finally realise and regret her limitations as a nurse.

Gabrielle and Steve tend to a patient, Terry, who is so afraid of dying of skin cancer like his father, that he's become a recluse. Steve offers some words of wisdom to Terry — that a life lived in fear is a life wasted — and Gabrielle takes heed, suggesting that she and Steve try again. But Steve's reaction is not the one she was hoping for.

Better Safe Than Sorry

When Amy puts her foot in it with a heavily-disfigured patient, she feels the entire department is against her. A charming eccentric who's gambled with his life by self-medicating forces Jack to make a decision that has dire consequences. A new computer system complicates operations in the ED.

Mike has bitten the bullet and phoned Juliet — whom he barely knows — for a date. A big gesture, considering she's now in Melbourne. Their initial nerves at what's almost a blind date soon vanish but just as they're about to move to a quieter venue to get to know each other even better, a drug-fuelled glassing incident between two socialite brats claims Mike's talents as a doctor. The incident effectively ends Mike's date with Juliet. Or does it…?

Not What You'd Expect

Jack finds himself caught up in an MVA where a young mother is trapped and the only possible way of saving her is to amputate her legs.

Mike forms a bond with a young patient from an MVA whose medical situation turns out to be far more dire than initially expected, and hides a personal secret.

Von takes Paula home to commence home-care, but it is Amy who learns something about nursing from the experience.

Dan and Erica are forced to part ways as she heads off for a course. Could this be the last time they see each other?

Training Wheels

Three young adults land in Emergency after a house party, all suffering different symptoms. Can the All Saints team discover the cause before it's too late? Dan attempts to conceal his fears about Erica's disappearance by throwing himself into work helping Mike remove a nail from a man's hand. But that may prove harder than expected. When the rest of the team learns of Erica's disappearance they search for ways they can help Dan through this difficult time.

When The Party's Over

Steve and Gabrielle fight to save the life of a worker who has suffered long-term exposure to chemicals. Elsewhere, Von and Charlotte treat the worker's boss, who is suffering similar but lesser symptoms. Does he know more than he's telling? Then, Jack faces an internal investigation about the death of one of his patients, only to find an even bigger challenge awaiting him when he returns to the ED and has to face his dead patient's widow. Dan is in denial about Erica's disappearance. Mike's relationship with Juliet is going well, but she issues him a subtle challenge — time to step outside his comfort zone.

Out On A Limb

When two victims of an armed robbery are brought in, the All Saints team are pushed to the limit. Already two nurses down, it's all hands on deck. Mike, Charlotte and Gabrielle deal with Rohan, a store owner who has been shot twice during the hold-up. When his condition spirals out of control, Charlotte and Mike debate how to best keep him alive.

Meanwhile, the other hold-up victim is medically fine but his mind keeps replaying the hold-up. Steve and Dan assume he's just suffering from shock. But when the real story comes out it catches both of them by surprise and makes Dan reassess how he's dealing with Erica's disappearance.

A woman brings in her twenty-five year old son. He's suffering from cellulitis. He also has a mental age of four, caused by a motor vehicle accident twenty years ago. Due to the lack of nurses, Von offers to help Bart for the day. Von quickly takes in the situation — while the cellulitis isn't serious it's clear the mother isn't coping. But can Von provide the extra support the mother needs before she chooses a more drastic solution?

Jack, feeling gun-shy after the internal investigation last week, opts to take Triage. Frank is on to him immediately. Jack's lost his nerve.

Amy comes in to finalise her resignation, giving Frank the opportunity to restore his relationship with his niece.

Running For Cover

Jack's ability to function as a doctor is called into question when Frank gives him an ultimatum. After going on a fruitless search for Erica with Bart, Dan is forced to face the possibility that something terrible has happened to his wife. Steve has to apologise to another doctor after he accuses him of medical negligence, unaware that he shares a past with Von. Mike has to face the possibility that Juliet is hiding something from him.

Another Reality Check

Dan and Bart deal with a complicated pregnancy scenario that serves to heighten Dan's sense of loss about Erica. Claire, the new Agency Nurse, is unrelenting in her quest to find out what happened to a man who has been badly assaulted. Adam's first day at All Saints sees him dealing with a young man who appears to be suffering from alcohol poisoning after his best mate's 21st. But when blood test results reveal that there is no alcohol or drugs in his system, Adam finds himself without a diagnoses and in a race against time. Frank is desperate to know how Adam and Von know each other.

Secrets and Lies

New nurse Claire is tested on her first day, full time, in the ED. Gabrielle puts Claire to work with a desperately ill, and very difficult patient. Dan prickles against Claire, seeing her as Erica's replacement. With grief from her patient, and from a colleague, it's a tough start.

Bart is annoyed when his patient, Roz, admits that she is faking symptoms. But Roz does have a real problem; her husband. She is deeply concerned about her husband, Ken, and his recent very odd behaviour. Ken refuses to admit to a problem. Roz felt this was the only way to get a Doctor to examine him. Bart and Gabrielle soon realise that Ken's behaviour is erratic and that his wife's concerns are well founded. Bart takes his concerns to Frank, who puts the pieces together, and comes up with an appalling and tragic diagnosis. 

Adam has finished his stint as a locum, and is crashing on Von's couch, not knowing, or caring, where he will go from here, content for the winds to guide him. Von's patience with his attitude has worn paper thin.

Dan obsesses over discovering the identity of an anonymous trauma patient. Dealing with a critical patient that has no identity stirs up Dan's anxieties, but also offers him some hope.

After turning up in the ED, Juliet asks Mike to accept her as she is.

Jack makes a decision about his future, handing in his resignation.

A Safe Place

A high-speed crash at a raceway leaves a young man struggling to cope with the consequences of his actions and Mike questioning the decision he makes to honour a dying patient's wish.

Dan's life is gradually returning to a type of normal - until the police arrive wanting to talk to him about Erica. Dan initially buries himself in work afraid they have bad news but eventually relents and disappears with the police. Later, Frank calls Bart into his office with some tragic news that will change the ED forever.

It's Jack's last day, but it's not smooth sailing. When a patient loses faith in him, Jack takes a leaf from his replacement's book and gets tough in order to convince the patient to accept life saving treatment.

Spinning Out Again

A worker from a car parts factory, brought into the ED after an explosion at her workplace, is discovered to have a bizarre but deadly injury that could spell disaster for her as well as the entire Emergency Department. The scenario takes all of Frank and Mike's ingenuity and courage to come up with a solution. And that solution will see Mike putting his life on the line, giving him reason to make a radical decision about his future.

A young woman, Morgan, is suffering from severe hypothermia after a camping trip went wrong and the ED team wrestle with balancing the risk of cardiac failure over the risk of brain damage. Bart, however, has his own agenda in play and Charlotte fears he isn't doing himself or the patient any good as a result.

Adam's persistence with a "Frequent Flyer" patient puts him at loggerheads with both Frank and Gabrielle. Frank is surprised by a visit from Amy, his niece, who wants her job in the ED back.

Another Time Bomb

Medical drama focusing on the working and personal lives of the doctors and nurses working on the front line of a busy inner city Emergency Department at All Saints Hospital.

The Circle of Life

Seasons12

Season 11 Episodes40

Cast13

Crew1

Discussion

Episode Summary