When the phone rings in the middle of the night, Dr Arthur Jackson leaves the warmth of his bed without hesitation. Tending to his peculiar flock of patients - including the blind cobbler with a surprising taste for hard liquor, the accident-prone butcher and the young woman with an unusual phobia - is his first priority, whether their illness is critical or they simply need a comforting hand to hold. The whole community turns to the young doctor for advice . . . and not all of it medical.

Meanwhile, Dr Jackson's family are settling into their new home, a rambling manor house complete with uncooperative ducks and a ghost. This delightfully nostalgic tale follows their progress as the negotiate the highs and lows, the hilarious ups and downs, of life in a country practice.