Quacks

- Season 1

(2017)

Victorian medics perform amputations and other gruesome operations in a theatre in front of the public.

Caroline is entranced by Charles Dickens and gains an invitation to dinner with him, accompanied by William. He is impressed by her interest in social reform but his drug-induced lechery ends her adoration of him. Meanwhile Robert is annoyed when Dr Hendrick endorses volunteer Florence Nightingale, who lectures him on hygiene and fresh air. When the two of them are called upon to treat a wealthy dowager he sets out to frame her whilst John has cause to regret taking on a street urchin as his apprentice.

William is treating Harold, who believes he is a French aristocrat pursued by vengeful revolutionaries so he stages a mock trial to disprove his delusion, though it does not go well. John, heavily in debt and unable to sell his tooth-brushes finds it pays to resort to peddling quack medicines whilst Caroline cross-dresses to gain entrance to the society of apothecaries, fooling Dr Combe, but also exposing her husband's attempts to seduce the wealthy Lady Campbell into being his patroness.

When Robert suffers from nightmares Caroline arranges for herself, William and John to meet famous hypnotist Mr Kapoor though William is more concerned about his gall-stones. Mr Kapoor demonstrates his skills by hypnotizing Caroline, impressing all concerned but William, whilst anxious about his own condition, is keen to learn the reasons for Robert's bad dreams. John's lecture on the use of ether and chloroform goes awry when he inhales a surfeit of both but his use of Mr Kapoor's mesmerism may still be invaluable to William's operation - hopefully.

His stone removed, William is visited by childhood sweetheart Mina, who has marriage in mind whilst his progressive therapy is questioned and the asylum in danger of closing. His colleagues suggest a solution - paying the local innkeeper to feign madness so that William may be seen to 'cure' him - but the plan goes wrong. Mina is in a position to save William's family from ruin but he finds himself falling for Caroline. Meanwhile Robert is summoned to remove the diseased appendix of the Bishop of Lambeth, who mistrusts surgery but John's new lady love Nicola comes to ...

Robert's rival, the suave French surgeon Patrice DuPont is due to perform surgery on Dr Hendrick himself. Patrice makes John a tempting offer to join him.