It's the start of the summer holidays, and Sister Veronica arrives at an abandoned warehouse looking for a family to discuss the children's truancy. The mother is pregnant, but her imposing husband is refusing a midwife visit. Fearing for the mother's safety, Sister Veronica involves Sister Julienne, who must find the strength to help the mother through a traumatic birth whilst overcoming her own personal crisis.
Shelagh makes a house call to see a man who lives inside an iron lung after being paralysed from a polio infection. His wife is his main carer, and Shelagh notices that she's looking jaundiced, so she suggests an appointment with Dr Turner, leading to a devastating diagnosis.
The 1970 Commonwealth Games has everyone excited. Children play in the street with their makeshift hurdles and javelins, but when a young boy is injured, Violet decides to create the Poplar Commonwealth Games in an official, safe capacity and enlists the help of Cyril, who has returned from Jamaica.
