Len and Linda's first foster child arrives and doesn't meet their expectations. Rita, a new barmaid, arrives with ideas to expand the pub, which the locals dislike. She leaves when Tom diagnoses her with a rare heart condition.

Jean and Eddie finally get married. Wilf's ex-wife Violet turns up and he insists that he will not attend the wedding if she is present. Whilst Donald looks out for young orphan Niamh, Tom decides to visit his father.

Ormston welcomes a new face and bids farewell to an old friend. Donald and Deborah set up a mobile blood bank before Tom returns from New Zealand, and find a match for teenage haemophiliac Abel Marl.