The first scene of the series saw a young Charlie Fairhead travelling to work in a battered old Beetle and as the series progressed we got to know Charlie and the other main characters who worked the Holby nightshift.
There was wise old Ewart Plimmer who fought to open the nightshift in the first place. Ewart was one of those people who spent all his time doing his job and as the series progressed problems in Ewart's private life became evident. His wife left him because he was spending too much time in hospital. Then a drunk girl who was having her stomach pumped out turned out to be his daughter Gillian, who he hadn't seen for years.
There was 'Mother Earth' Megan Roach, the middle aged Irish SEN. She had to undergo a hysterectomy during the series.
There was headstrong SHO Baz Samuels who had an affair with Charlie, fell pregnant but had an abortion because she didn't want a baby to get in the way of her career.
There was nurse Clive King, the chirpy Jamaican who had a drinking problem. Megan discovered this and helped Clive put a stop to it.
There was young nurse Lisa 'Duffy' Duffin, who spoke with a West Country accent and appeared a little thick. She suffered more than most in the series when she was raped.
There was manic Polish porter Kuba Trzcinski, who seemed to constantly be putting his foot in it. When Baz had her abortion and had kept it quiet from Charlie, Kuba got the wrong end of the stick. He interupted Charlie and Baz in mid-conversation to gave Baz a bunch of flowers and said how sorry he was that she'd lost the baby. Thus Charlie found out about the abortion and Baz was furious with Kuba.
Other characters included sullen Welsh ambulance paramedic Andrew Ponting, who began an affair with fellow paramedic Sandra Mute, and receptionist Susie Mercier, who was great at dealing with unruly patients.
The night shift was an experiment, and Ewart and Megan soon discovered that there were plans to close down the shift. "Plimmer's Army" made up their minds to fight for it and the series ended with a protest outside the hospital.
Written by Christopher Watson