9.2/1029 votesLoading...#1 - For Those in Peril
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 1/25/2004
The hospital staff have an intriguing case on their hands when local tramp Sebastian Fox is found dead. Ken Hopkirk rummages through his belongings and is surprised to find war medals, leading to the discovery that he was a decorated Navy hero. When a relative is traced but refuses to help with funeral arrangements, the Royal team decide to give him a fitting send-off by scattering his ashes at sea. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Goodwin is shocked to discover a farmer's cattle herd have contracted a disease which has passed into cheese that's available in the area, and Jill Weatherill, Matron and Sister Brigid encounter a runaway girl.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Deborah Cook
- 9.1/1029 votesLoading...
#2 - For Better for Worse
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 12/5/2004
Jill and Gordon's wedding day finally arrives, but a huge explosion at a nearby care home disrupts proceedings in spectacular fashion. As the Royal staff help pull the elderly residents out of the rubble, the horrifying truth behind the cause of the accident is discovered.
Director: Terry McDonough
Writer: Deborah Cook
- 9.0/1023 votesLoading...
#3 - Famous for a Day
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 12/21/2003
The staff are excited by the arrival of a TV film crew at the hospital, especially Mr Harper, who is desperate to be caught on camera - and it looks like his dreams of stardom may be about to come true when Mr Middleditch gives him an important job for the broadcast. Elsewhere, the atmosphere is much more tense, as Dr. Ormerod and nurse Meryl Taylor are called out to help a boy who has been trapped below the surface of an icy lake for 20 minutes - and to make matters worse, the ambulance carrying the unconscious lad back to hospital gets caught in a snowdrift. On a lighter note, Ray Piper is brought in with a huge bump on his head - and there's much hilarity when it turns out his wife has hit him with a frozen turkey. But before the day is out, he's not the only member of his family to be admitted.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Jane Hollowood
- 8.9/1025 votesLoading...
#4 - Doing Time
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 2/8/2004
Ormerod faces a taxing time when a prison van overturns on the moors. The driver is killed, a guard is seriously injured and one of the convicts escapes, while the others are rounded up and taken for treatment at the hospital, where Ken Hopkirk recognises an old friend. Goodwin fails to diagnose a serious case of post-natal depression - an error which almost ends in tragedy when the mother is found standing perilously close to a cliff-edge - and student nurse Samantha Beaumont discovers she has an unexpected love rival.
Director: Graeme Harper
Writer: Nick Saltrese
- 8.9/1025 votesLoading...
#5 - From This Day Forward
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 10/22/2006
A fishing trawler causes havoc at a wedding reception and Adam has to make a difficult choice.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Stephen Bennett
- 8.8/1025 votesLoading...
#6 - Doing the Rounds
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 11/30/2003
New GP and anaesthetist Dr. Jeffrey Goodwin has a tough first day at work when he witnesses a car crash, gets attacked by one of the drivers involved and has his own vehicle and possessions stolen on his way to The Royal. After recovering from his injuries, Goodwin treats local landowner Lord Firminger who's collapsed on his estate, and gets off to a shaky start with Rose by asking him to perform emergency surgery on a cancer victim. Back at the hospital, Cheriton's mother Annette arrives to collect her dead son's things, surprising staff nurse Meryl Taylor by revealing a photo of a fiancee she never knew about.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Mark Holloway
8.8/1024 votesLoading...#7 - Reckoning
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 2/1/2004
Dr. Ormerod is furious to discover the police have launched an investigation into his wife's death, and reveals in a heated outburst that she was planning to leave him at the time of the accident. Bad news strikes a family when it emerges a couple's son has developed a hereditary heart disorder, a mother-to-be suffers kidney failure during childbirth and hospital porter Ken Hopkirk needs an operation after injuring himself while lifting a piano. Romance blossoms for Dr. Goodwin and student nurse Samantha Beaumont, and Lizzie Kennoway's driving lesson ends in disaster when she slams into the back of Mr. Harper's parked car.
Director: Graeme Harper
Writer: Sarah Bagshaw
- 8.8/1024 votesLoading...
#8 - Sinking Feeling
Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 2/27/2005
A dangerous situation arises on board a sinking trawler and Matron hands in her resignation.
Director: Frank W. Smith
Writer: John Flanagan, Andrew McCulloch
- 8.8/1029 votesLoading...
#9 - Absent Friends
Season 6 Episode 1 - Aired 3/25/2007
Weatherill decides to return to work after having a baby. A local family prove a handful for the hospital staff. In Africa, Goodwin faces the horrors of war and makes a promise to a dying woman - but can he keep his word?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.8/1025 votesLoading...
#10 - Home And Dry
Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 4/1/2007
Goodwin returns to England with Nkeshi, but his plans for her future face some opposition. A singing superstar requires a hospital stay but Frankie almost loses his job when the paparazzi catch them in flagrante.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Sarah Bagshaw
- 8.7/1026 votesLoading...
#11 - Holding on Tight
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 1/18/2004
A group of drunken mods arrive at the hospital in a shocking state, and Ken Hopkirk soon makes the grim discovery that they have been drinking industrial alcohol supplied by their friend, theatre technician Alun Morris. Meanwhile, a fourth member of the boozing group is brought in and has his stomach pumped immediately - but it soon emerges that the illicit hooch has blinded him. Elsewhere, Mr Rose and his surgical team treat a widow with a gangrenous toe at her farmhouse, and student nurse Samantha Beaumont receives a telling-off for laying out operating instruments in an incorrect order.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Patrick Melanaphy
- 8.7/1021 votesLoading...
#12 - Duty Bound
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 1/23/2005
Samantha struggles to cope with the reality of her recent discovery and takes desperate action which leaves her life hanging in the balance. Frankie and Gordon attempt a daring rescue to help a teenager in danger on the weir, while Ken has something to hide from Harper. Jeff's casual encounter with a friend of Lizzie's suddenly turns serious when he realises his career could be at risk.
Director: Ken Grieve
Writer: Robin Mukherjee
- 8.7/1022 votesLoading...
#13 - Sins of the Father
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 1/30/2005
Nurse Stella Davenport arrives at the Royal with a less than favourable reputation, and soon causes a stir among the staff and patients as rumours about her circulate the hospital. Matron and Harper discover a new approach to interviewing when they try to fill a ward domestic vacancy, while Dr. Ormerod is left to deal with the dramatic aftermath of a domestic dispute, and Lizzie realises her new scooter might have been an ill-advised purchase.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Sarah Bagshaw
- 8.7/1025 votesLoading...
#14 - Loved and Lost
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 3/12/2006
Dr. Ormerod returns to work after his accident, but when his brusque treatment of a hypochondriac schoolgirl ends in tragedy, it's clear he still needs time to recover. New nurse Catherine Deane starts her rounds on the wards, and Mr. Middleditch has a surprise announcement to make.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Sarah Bagshaw
- 8.7/1021 votesLoading...
#15 - Hoping For The Best
Season 6 Episode 3 - Aired 4/8/2007
When a mother falls seriously ill, staff at the hospital are faced with a dilemma.
Director: Duncan Foster
Writer: John Flanagan, Andrew McCulloch
- 8.7/1022 votesLoading...
#16 - Love and Loss
Season 6 Episode 12 - Aired 11/4/2007
Jill becomes unwell after earlier receiving the results of a pregnancy test. Elsewhere, when a baby goes missing, suspicion falls on the parents of a girl admitted with a broken ankle. Meanwhile, Gordon makes a discovery about a diabetic patient that explains his behaviour and, in a dramatic finale, tragedy looms over the hospital.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Sarah Bagshaw
- 8.6/1022 votesLoading...
#17 - Home to Roost
Season 3 Episode 14 - Aired 2/15/2004
Ormerod faces a testing time when his father-in-law arrives demanding to know whether he was seeing Dr. Weatherill while his late daughter was still alive. Following a heated exchange, it emerges that the disgruntled patriarch has hired a private detective to investigate the couple - but the situation only serves to bring them closer together, culminating in a marriage proposal. At the Royal, a painfully thin girl causes concern for Goodwin - whose green-eyed monster emerges when student nurse Samantha Beaumont agrees to a date with a younger man - and the hospital is evacuated after a suicide victim's corpse is brought in emitting toxic fumes.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: John Flanagan, Andrew McCulloch
- 8.6/1026 votesLoading...
#18 - Beggars and Choosers
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 12/12/2004
Mr. Harper prepares for the arrival of an important private patient, who proves useful when a badly injured teenager is brought in after an industrial accident after Dr. Goodwin puts his career on the line to fight for justice for the accident victim. Sister Brigid helps a terminally ill alcoholic called Rory, and Lizzie comes to terms with her husband's recent behaviour and looks ahead to the future.
Director: Terry McDonough
Writer: Sarah Bagshaw
- 8.6/1020 votesLoading...
#19 - Scabs
Season 6 Episode 9 - Aired 9/30/2007
A piano teacher (guest star George Costigan) remains suspiciously secretive about his past when brought in to casualty after collapsing outside the hospital. Matron's revelation about Susie cools Alun's interest in her, and Mike takes pity on a mother while he treats her son. Elsewhere, Jill delivers bad news to an elderly patient and the porters are forced to take industrial action in support of a colleague.
Director: Ian Bevitt
Writer: Mark Holloway
- 8.5/1024 votesLoading...
#20 - Consequences
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 12/7/2003
Ormerod faces a difficult dilemma when Caroline's father Henry turns up suggesting they turn off her life-support machine, having done all they can, but the guilt-ridden doctor wonders whether he'd only be letting her die so he can be with Weatherill. Meanwhile, Goodwin puts his career on the line when he allows a member of the public to cure a back injury, student nurse Samantha Beaumont is less than impressed by a date with theatre technician Alun Morris and a patient's pet parrot causes chaos in the hospital.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: John Flanagan, Andrew McCulloch
- 8.5/1020 votesLoading...
#21 - The Way We Were
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 2/20/2005
Dr. Goodwin faces the pressure as rumours about him frantically circulate the hospital and when Dr. Weatherill passes on some important news, he wastes no time in using it to set the record straight. Nurse Taylor's happiness about her future with Frankie is sensationally shattered as the extent of his dishonesty is revealed, while Matron is shocked to see a familiar face on the ward.
Director: Graeme Harper
Writer: Deborah Cook
- 8.5/1022 votesLoading...
#22 - Fever
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 4/9/2006
The hospital has its hands full when a typhoid epidemic breaks out in the community. Things get worse as the disease's source is traced back to the wards and staff struggle to locate it. Dr. Weatherill is forced to reprimand Dr. Ormerod after catching him sleeping on the job - but also has a startling piece of news to give him.
Director: Duncan Foster
Writer: Mark Holloway
- 8.5/1022 votesLoading...
#23 - Winners and Losers
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 10/1/2006
The arrival of a new locum ruffles some feathers. A day at the races seems a perfect location for Carnegie and Catherine to enjoy they first date - but only if they can keep out of everyone's way.
Director: Alan Wareing
Writer: Ken Blakeson
- 8.5/1020 votesLoading...
#24 - Keep On Running
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 10/15/2006
A patient who set fire to his own shop attempts to avoid police questioning by leaping into an ambulance and driving off towards the pier - unaware that Alun and a sick man are in the back of the vehicle.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: Sarah Bagshaw
- 8.5/1019 votesLoading...
#25 - Can't Buy Me Love
Season 6 Episode 11 - Aired 10/28/2007
Suspicion falls on Adam over missing hospital funds and Mike attends a meeting to assess the mental welfare of a 50-year-old man who still lives with his mother. Elsewhere, Gordon's ex-father-in-law pays an unexpected visit with some sobering news and Ken has a confession to make to his colleagues.
Director: Tim Dowd
Writer: John Flanagan, Andrew McCulloch
The Best Episodes of The Royal
Every episode of The Royal ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Royal!
Follows the staff and patients of a Yorkshire cottage hospital in the 60s, embroiled in tangled love lives and bitter power struggles.
Genre:Drama
Network:ITV1
Best Episodes Summary
"For Those in Peril" is the best rated episode of "The Royal". It scored 9.2/10 based on 29 votes. Directed by Tim Dowd and written by Deborah Cook, it aired on 1/25/2004. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "For Better for Worse".