Dr. Martin Ellingham is still as clumsy as ever when it comes to forming relationships with the opposite sex. Just when things were beginning to look rosily romantic between him and pretty school teacher Louisa Glasson, he made a terrible faux pas. She can't forgive him for accusing her of failing in her dental hygiene regime. Meanwhile, Muriel's condition deteriorates in the home. Then Martin realizes that her problems are being caused because she is dehydrated, and that has caused her to become confused. At the surgery, Martin is taken aback to find a strange girl working in reception.