Season 2, Episode 11: "The most deserving" (original air date: March 6, 2002)

When Nicky meets the mother of the teenager killed in the recent car accident she feels as though she should be doing more to make a difference for the good people of Bassett.

Then Kieran comes in with Caroline, a work acquaintance, whose daughter has suffered a febrile fit. Nicky admires Caroline, a woman who has made bold changes in her life. She also finds that Caroline, a deserving case, is not on the waiting list for an operation she badly needs. She tries to help Caroline get on the waiting list but is unsuccessful.

Nicky discovers that William has taken a cunning approach to get an elderly patient a hip operation. She is shocked, but he's pragmatic: you can't change the world, but you do what you can. Nicky accompanies the elderly patient to hospital, and decides to confront the orthopaedic registrar about the waiting list process. When her attempt at get Caroline on the list fails, she goes to the surgeon Bruce Strick. He is intrigued by Caroline's case - and is also sure he knows Nicky. When he works out she is the famous "glue" girl who put surgical glue in her ex-boyfriend's clothes, Nicky thinks her cause is lost, but instead Bruce is impressed and offers a deal...

Caroline is ecstatic to find she'll get her operation. Kieran is admiring, but Amanda feels jealous. William is unimpressed to find that in order to help Caroline, Nicky has done a deal with Bruce to take post-operative patients early. William is put out, but Nicky insists she was only following his advice - do what you can.

Ken feels as if he is to blame for the car accident. Despite counselling, he's having trouble sleeping and is not coping with work.

Meanwhile, the usually liberal Louise ends up taking a more conservative line when she finds that her son, Liam, has been suspended from school for smoking marijuana (dope). Cliff is less than sympathetic - he has more deserving cases to worry about. William comforts Louise by telling her that Liam, like Alistair, will grow out of smoking dope. Ross is sure a father of one of Liam's friends is the source of the marijuana. Louise puts pressure on a reluctant Ken to investigate Jimmy Tamaho.

Ken is reluctantly stirred to action and sets out to find the drug dealer - and Alistair has a near miss when he turns up at Jimmy's place to score more dope. Ken reluctantly arrests Jimmy. Ross is proud of Louise's actions, but her sense of righteous indignation pales when she finds that Jimmy wasn't selling drugs to kids - the dope was a gift from Liam's friend to help him deal with depression after the accident. When she puts more pressure on Ken he gets angry. He also goes to Alistair for sleep medication. Louise tries to deal with her guilt over the arrest of Jimmy Tamaho by offering help to Cliff, but he shuts her out.

Meanwhile, William suffers embarrassment and minor injury while golfing. The perpetrator is Sue (the woman from the car accident), who has stayed on in Bassett. William is attracted to Sue (although she's an unlikely match for him) and sees no harm in a fling. But he is then less than pleased to find that Sue seems to see him as a long-term prospect and is considering moving back to Bassett permanently.