Another Year Doctors

Hest...?

KNOCK ON DOOR

Heston?

SHOWER RUNS

Choochoo?

I'm off now, darling.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Did you sleep well?

Yes, thank you.

Me too. Like a baby.

Never better!

Sit! Come, let's eat.

-I still haven't changed how I feel.

-There is nothing worse than cold toast.

And you?

I would rather not have any toast at all.

I am not talking about the toast.

And I am.

Please, sit down.

I know what I'm doing.

We are both grown-ups.

Some more grown-up than others.

I'm old enough.

And I am too old.

So...it's the age difference, is it?

Jam or marmalade?

I think I will have jam.

Why don't you say grace?

Dear Lord, we thank you for your bounteous gifts,

for providing us with tastes and desires

and experiences in the most unexpected places.

You truly do work in mysterious ways...

Someone we may barely notice

can suddenly make our hearts beat with love...

Or something...

..like a humble piece of toast.

I am not talking about the toast.

And I am.

-Oh! Doctor Carter.

-Morning, Mrs Tembe.

I can't seem to find the right keys.

Allow me.

-Hey, you are early.

-Yeah, as are you.

Sometimes it is easier to leave the house and get to work.

I quite agree.

-Doctor Carter?

-Oh, hello, Lara.

-I am sorry, we are not quite open yet.

-I can't wait, I have to be somewhere.

-Yeah, I'm sorry, it really is a bit...

I've done what you told me to.

Gone away and thought about it,

but I know now what I've known for the last five years.

I don't want children - I never have, I never will.

-So, I've decided...

-Why don't we have a quick chat in my office?

It's the only reason Mum's alive.

We don't know that.

She was in her 40s...already had you.

-I thought you were going to wait.

-I tried! Met someone...

-Did you discuss it with him?

-What was I supposed to say?

"Let's get on with it so I can have my ovaries cut out."?

-You didn't discuss it with him?

-What would he have said?

What would any man say?

And who's to say he's the one and not just there...available?

You don't know until you've talked about it.

I'd rather just accept I can't have children.

I thought you were going to wait until you're 30?

I've already waited five years and the risk keeps going up.

-Well, the odds are in your favour until you're 30.

-And what happens after that?

Leave it till I'm 35?

Or put it all into my career and...

meet a man who doesn't want children.

What does your mum think?

That I should wait.

I did tell him. Michael...

..and shortly after that we broke up.

You can't make a decision like this

on the back of one failed relationship.

-I'm not.

-You'll meet someone else.

And go through it all again? Telling him?

Well, you'll have to.

And then what?

After the babies, the operation...

Look at Mum and Dad.

We're all different.

Only we're not, are we?

I'm not doing this because of Michael.

I gave myself five years.

-It's time.

-I'm not sure the NHS will agree.

You'll find it hard to find a surgeon prepared to do it.

I already have.

The best.

Miss Swan.

Aamina Swan, at St Phil's?

You're right...about the NHS, they wanted me to wait...

..which is why I'm going private.

I'm having the operation today.

KNOCK ON DOOR

This came.

What is it?

I don't know, I thought it might be important.

Is it addressed to me?

"The Householder."

It is unlikely to be important. Leave it there, I will look at it later.

I don't want to leave it.

I am at work, I have not got time for this.

-Good morning, Doctor Wilson.

-Morning.

Are you all right, love?

A woman just left your room in tears.

She's about to have bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.

She can't be more than 30.

She's 25.

She had an aunt who died and a mother who successfully had the procedure.

But she's 25.

Old enough to make her own decisions.

When's she having it done?

Today.

Er... Right, she could have years, maybe a lifetime.

-Just cos her mum and her aunt...

-Freya, Freya, I know.

She can't have it done.

Well, apparently, if you go private, you can.

If she's so sure about her decision,

-why has she come to see you first?

-I'm her GP.

And I used to be a general surgeon.

You mean you were at her mum's operation?

Her aunt's.

Who you said died?

Found a tumour, tried to remove it.

-How old was she?

-35.

-So she can definitely afford to wait?

I don't like this any more than you but there's nothing we can do about it!

The local council are offering grants for insulation.

So you're happy about it now?

It was not worth disturbing me for.

-Then maybe I should take it back?

-No.

No, you never know when these things will come in handy.

Do you think Doctor Carter's patient was OK?

I cannot discuss that.

Yes, maybe this could be quite useful.

Mrs Bonnaire, I wasn't expecting you.

No, I've just popped in to see Heston. Which room's he in?

-Well...

-Has he had a tea?

-Not that I know...

-She should not do that.

-Do what?

-Come and disturb Doctor Carter.

Making someone a cup of tea isn't disturbing them.

It is inappropriate.

The working day hasn't even started.

That is not the point.

She works here anyway.

Sometimes, but not today.

I think it is nice, calling in on someone, unexpectedly, you care for.

Maybe I should have brought you a cup of tea instead of a leaflet.

I would have seen this at home anyway.

KNOCK ON DOOR

Never too early for Lapsang Souchong!

Did you know, I've got that many appointments and home visits today...

all without a kiss goodbye from my love.

What's the matter?

-Choochoo?

-I'm worried.

About a patient.

Oh, is everything all right?

Sorry, I'm going to have to go.

Stop smiling, you'll make her nauseous!

What kind of a man wants to be a gynaecologist?

Right, I have a consent form for you to sign.

Here we are.

I can leave that with you?

No, it's fine, I just need a pen, that's all.

Callum Reeves, registrar, I'll be assisting.

Perhaps you can talk Miss Bennett through the procedure.

Total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy...

In English.

Complete removal of the womb, both ovaries and the fallopian tubes.

-Why?

-Pre-emptive surgery?

-Because?

-There's a family history?

My aunt died of ovarian cancer when she was 35.

She worked here. St Phil's first female surgeon.

-Really?

-But when it came to herself, she left it too late.

The cancer was already there and she died in surgery.

-The same surgery your mother had?

-But after she'd had children.

Aunt Carol put it off too, but because of her career...

If she was here now, she'd tell me to stop dithering.

Risks?

Um...

Haemorrhage, infection, thrombosis.

Are you sure you want to do this?

Yes.

Right, OK, I'll see you later.

She's not that bad.

I've heard she's very good.

We'll be back to see you later on.

The knight in shining armour!

Showing a patient the error of her ways.

Attractive?

Carol Chandler's niece.

I don't want her to do something she'll regret.

But given what happened to Carol?

Well, she can afford to wait five years.

I don't see how you can stop her.

Well, maybe not her.

You're not going to take on Aamina Swan?

I'll try.

Life in the old dog yet!

Of course, I'm still trying to get young girls

to do things they WILL regret!

I've got one too.

A girlfriend?

A Smartphone.

Really? Know how to use it?

A registrar showed me.

Did she now?

HE! Bit of a whizz kid.

And you've let him take the flak?

How do you mean?

Well, look after your patients while you play the hero?

No.

Anyway, that's the other registrar.

-What's he like?

-She.

-Oh!

-And before you ask...

No, no, no, no. Look, look...

So, what IS going on?

Well, if you must know, I'm with someone.

Domestic bliss...how dull.

So in the first par - we call a paragraph a par -

-I set something up and in the last par, I...

-Jack?

I have a problem to discuss.

Akono, thing is I'm...

One that I thought you may know how to deal with.

Especially with your vast experience of women!

Mate, you have got to stop ruining my chances!

You are right. There's no point yours being ruined because of mine.

So, what did you write in the last par, eh?

JACK CHUCKLES

Miss Swan?

Doctor Heston Carter.

Erstwhile surgeon.

Lara Bennett's GP.

Ah. Forgive me, Doctor Carter, I've got to prepare for theatre.

That's what I wanted to talk about.

Right. Er, go get me a coffee.

And, you, make sure he gets it right.

Come in.

She's sending you mixed messages.

What do you mean?

She likes you, but she's scared to confront her feelings.

So what do I do?

You need to get some time alone with her.

Lots of time.

Not jump on her, just get to know each other.

So she confronts her feelings?

And hopefully by then...

The connection is undeniable?

What I was going to say is that it's so late that she has to stay at yours.

What you really need to do is to get out of Mrs Tembe's house.

Why?

You need your independence.

Grab hold of life and then this woman that you like.

-Maybe you're right.

-Well, I should be...with my VAST experience.

There are valid clinical reasons for this procedure.

I feel it may be a little precipitous, unduly influenced by what happened to her aunt.

SHE'S unduly influenced?

I don't understand.

Well, it's a little unusual, isn't it?

A GP lobbying a surgeon.

Following his patient into hospital.

I know you operated on her aunt.

Well, I was present, but not called upon.

Look, Lara has been facing an impossible decision.

Now she's made her choice, she can get on with her life.

We have to respect that. Maintain a distance...

Is this why she's having it done privately?

-She has waited long enough...

-Or because the NHS won't do it?

No! It's because she wants to have it done now.

Not next week, not next year.

So, if you've finished, I'm preparing for theatre. Come on.

Akono, I cannot talk to you. Do not call me here again!

I will see you tonight.

You can wear mittens if you have to, just don't scratch, OK?

Heston hasn't called?

-No. No, he has not called.

-PHONE RINGS

And that is not him, either.

Heston!

Asthmatic toddler.

I've got an outpatients with Dr Flynn discussing new forms of treatment.

Archie Flynn? Yes, he's ferocious.

He's OK.

Bit old-fashioned.

-Is everything all right with your patient?

-Not yet.

See you at home, yeah?

Shouldn't be too long now. Miss Swan's on her way down.

So what kind of man does want to be a gynaecologist?

It was my mother's specialism.

And your father?

He's a lawyer. Divorce.

-You didn't fancy that?

-He left when I was three.

Mine went when I was five.

Some blokes just aren't up to it.

-Some mothers aren't.

-Who'd bring new life into this world?

Oocyte cryopreservation.

What?

Egg freezing. You can preserve your eggs till you meet someone then find a surrogate.

I've already told Miss Swan I don't want to.

That way you can have the operation and a realistic chance of having children too.

I don't want it.

-What if you change your mind?

-I won't.

You're as bad as Mum.

I'm giving you options.

-Just like you would for all your patients?

-Yes.

-Not just the ones whose aunts you saw die?

-I'd do the same for anyone.

-I've signed the consent form.

-Well, change your mind.

My decision's made.

What if it's the wrong one?

-Well, it's better than being indecisive.

-Is it?

Everything all right?

We'll be taking you up soon.

-OK, you're right. Because of your aunt, I am treating you differently.

-Actually, we both are.

Oh-ho-ho-ho! What are you doing here?

I'm talking to my patient.

My patient.

Hey, why didn't you call me?

Should I have? I wasn't sure...

I want you to leave, now.

Go and get her prepped.

I'll see you upstairs.

Well?

Nothing you can do. Better men than you have failed.

Lara is my patient too,

and I have as much right to talk to her as you do.

Fine, you talk to her.

You knew my aunt?

I was the anaesthetist at Carol's operation.

And?

And her boyfriend for a while.

You went out with Aunt Carol?

-For a while.

-She was the love of his life.

-They let you anaesthetise her?

-We'd been finished a long time.

-Carol wanted him to do it.

-And

-I

-wanted to.

We were professionals operating on a friend and a colleague

and there was no suggestion of any impropriety.

Did you break up with her because she was ill?

-No.

-We don't want you to do something you'll regret.

But it's better than regretting not doing it, like Aunt Carol.

-No word?

-No.

Nothing at all.

Maybe we should ring him?

No, Doctor Carter will make the right choice.

We have to have faith.

When we have faith we always make the right decision.

Now...should I have tea or coffee?

Carol used to talk about you.

The daughter she could never have.

I'm going to ask you to count back from ten -

you probably won't get past five, then when you wake up...

-It'll all be done?

-It'll all be done.

You'd have been happy not having children?

Well, I haven't had any.

Aunt Carol should have had the operation when she was my age.

Maybe.

If she had, she'd still be alive.

Right, then.

DOOR OPENS

It's your birthday! You're 25. Is this some kind of deadline?

-What if it is?

-Please put off this decision for at least another year.

That's exactly what Mum said. Did you ever meet my mum?

-Yes.

-You know she hasn't been out with anyone since Dad left.

Keeps saying, "next year." She's sure she'll meet someone next year.

Well, she was exactly the same with Aunt Carol.

Kept telling her to put off the operation.

"Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow?"

Well, I'm sick of her! I don't want children.

I don't want my eggs preserved. She should have had the operation when she was my age.

-So you wish you'd never been born?

-Than be born with the genes she gave me!

-Is this about punishing your mother?

-She shouldn't have had children.

-So you're not going to?

-And put them through this? Why would I?

It's your decision, but you're young! You don't have to do it now. You don't know what's round the corner,

but to blame your mother for having you is stupid, ungrateful and selfish,

and Carol would be ashamed of you!

For what it's worth, she was very proud of you.

Happy birthday, by the way.

So...counting back from ten.

And try and remember, scratching will make it worse, yeah?

I know they're students, but six of them all with...

You don't want to know.

-Did Heston make it back?

-No, not yet.

-I saw him at the hospital.

-How did he get on?

Not good, I don't think.

-Really?

-That is a shame.

I thought I'd cheer him up, make him something special for supper.

I think I might do the same for Akono.

Why, what's wrong with him?

Homesick. It will pass.

The young are resilient.

I'm going to try Heston again.

Doctor Carter?

Lara? What happened?

I changed my mind. Must have been the shock of you shouting at me.

-Sorry.

-Don't be. Auntie Carol would have done the same.

-How did Miss Swan react when you said you wouldn't go through with it?

-She seemed relieved.

Seems like a nice boy.

The sort of man that wants to be a gynaecologist.

I think he likes you.

He does know everything about me. Wouldn't need to tell him anything.

See?

Maybe too much.

Maybe.

(I'll leave you to it.)

And I'll see you in a year.

What made you change your mind?

-Bit of everything, really.

-Yeah?

This looks very special.

It is just a normal supper.

It doesn't look like a normal supper.

-This time

-I

-will say grace.

Bless, O Father, Thy gifts to our use and us to Thy service.

For Christ's sake.

Amen.

In other words, embrace life, people, enjoy new things.

Oh, I am.

And if I say so myself, it tastes delicious.

Ntwa kgolo ke ya molomo."

You know Setswana?

I found it on the internet.

"The highest form of war is dialogue."

Anyone is allowed to talk, to express their views,

but you don't want to hear mine.

No, that is not true.

All we ever talk about is food,

even though I tried to kiss you!

I think I should leave.

No.

The Reverend wanted you to stay here.

If you leave now, it would be a failure

and a betrayal of the church's kindness.

-And that's the only reason why you want me to stay?

-Yes.

-MUMBLES:

-Hmm, yes.

You are right.

Delicious.

Hello, darling.

Did you get my call?

-My battery ran out.

-Oh, no.

I tried to get Lara to have her eggs frozen.

-And?

-She didn't have the operation. She's going to wait another year.

Oh, Choochoo, that's wonderful!

You're wonderful.

I'm not.

Yes, you are. You are a wonderful person.

Like all God's creatures.

Although you don't like to take compliments.

Thank you so much for your hospitality...

your food.

You do not have to go.

I think it's best.

Take care, Mrs Tembe.

And you, Akono.

I'd like you to leave.

Now.

Now?

-You all right?

-I'm not sure.

She's faking it. I can't believe you'd fall for this.

You think I don't know what you do?

It's not what you think.

Once you start, you can't stop.

You are blowing this out of all proportion!

The wedding's ruined.

-Cherry!

-This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life!

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