Born and Bred is a light-hearted British drama series that aired on BBC One from 2002 to 2005. Created by Chris Chibnall and Nigel McCrery, Born and Bred's cast was led by James Bolam and Michael French, who play a father and son who run a cottage hospital in Ormston, a fictional Lancashire village in the 1950s. Bolam and French's characters are later replaced by characters played by Richard Wilson and Oliver Milburn.
Best Episodes of Born and Bred
Nothing Like the Son
S1 Ep2
9.0
28th Apr 2002
Tom is appalled by the informal way Arthur runs his practice but both men combine to try and talk sense into their cleaner Edie McClure, sister of pub landlady Phyllis, whom Edie disdains for giving up on her marriage. Edie has a weak heart but is determined,against doctors' advice, to see through her seventh pregnancy as she has six daughters and is desperate for a son. Matters are taken out of her hands when she miscarries but reconciliation with Phyllis follows. Eddie,the hunky garage mechanic ,asks for advice from scrap-dealer Jean about dating Tom's teenaged daughter Helen but Jean misunderstands and assumes he wants to date her whilst Tom's son Michael gets revenge on a bullying schoolmaster.
No Regrets
S3 Ep2
8.5
7th Mar 2004
Helen becomes a trainee nurse just as the hospital welcomes its most demanding patient, putting both Tom and Arthur in a difficult position. And tensions run high when a famous radio show arrives in Ormston.
A Little Touch of Harry
S3 Ep1
8.5
29th Feb 2004
After an eventful Christmas, the villagers are settling back into their daily lives when a face from the past causes quite a stir.
The Magnificent Colin
S2 Ep8
8.5
15th Jun 2003
An elderly recluse agrees to go to hospital only if Arthur and the Rev. Brewer attend one last party; Jean and Eddie must pose as the Gilders.
The Miracle of Ormston
S2 Ep7
8.5
8th Jun 2003
There is a buzz of excitement around Ormston as a fortune teller comes to town. Phyllis receives some shocking news. Tom has been so busy he has been neglecting his family, and Deborah has something she needs to tell him.
Something Old
S3 Ep9
8.3
25th Apr 2004
When Jean's mother turns up for her daughter's wedding, she reveals a devastating secret to Tom which his oath as a doctor forbids him disclosing to anyone else.
Someone to Watch Over Me
S4 Ep10
8.0
3rd Aug 2005
Phyllis has a new admirer, and Jean and Eddie get some exciting news as they celebrate their first wedding anniversary.
A Wrathful God
S4 Ep9
8.0
27th Jul 2005
Phyllis wants to start a petition to keep Haven Hill from closing; a tax inspector visits Jean; the sexual tension between Logan and Deborah heightens.
The Element of Surprise
S4 Ep8
8.0
20th Jul 2005
Nancy is frustrated by Nick's lack of enthusiasm for their relationship and suspects his interest may lay elsewhere.
Love is Where It Falls
S4 Ep7
8.0
13th Jul 2005
Deborah and Nick are forced to spend the night together during a storm, and Nancy and Wilf decide to swap jobs.
Worst Episodes of Born and Bred
The Best Man
S1 Ep1
7.0
21st Apr 2002
The 1950s :- GP Tom Gilder and his family leave Manchester to attend a wedding in Tom's native village Ormston, where his father Arthur is the doctor. Arthur's nurse Linda is marrying local copper Len, who wakes up nude in the centre of the village after a raucous stag night. The train carrying wedding guests breaks down and Linda has second thoughts but the wedding goes off well though one of the guests collapses.Father and son work well as a team to treat him and Arthur, who mistrusts the N.H.S. and is considering retirement, is pleased when Tom wins over his wife Deborah and agrees to take over his father's practice,with Arthur as consultant in charge of the cottage hospital.
Old Flames
S2 Ep6
7.0
25th May 2003
Wedding bells are ringing in Ormston, but the groom may not be all he claims. Meanwhile, Wilf and Arthur may have met their match in a parrot.
The Great Leap Forward
S4 Ep1
7.0
1st Jun 2005
Dr. Nick Logan arrives in Ormston to help Deborah and Donald set up a walking blood bank; Jean and Eddie search for privacy; Len awaits his first call in his new police station.
Thick as Thieves
S3 Ep4
7.3
21st Mar 2004
Len and Linda have their hands full when their first foster child arrives and doesn't meet their expectations. Tom and Arthur are at loggerheads in the medical treatment of Rita Lennox, the woman sent by the brewery.
Community Spirits
S4 Ep3
7.5
15th Jun 2005
Parents Dee and Christina Georgiou cannot agree on who is to blame for four-year-old Nicola's bad behaviour. She wets herself night and day, has violent temper tantrums and still insists on breast feeding.
Never Seek to Tell
S4 Ep4
7.7
22nd Jun 2005
Len prepares for the arrival of a foster daughter; Donald suggests that Phyllis start her own newspaper.
The Inspector Calls
S1 Ep3
8.0
5th May 2002
With no cash available to pay builders the villagers rally to get the cottage hospital up to scratch before an N.H.S. inspector arrives to approve it.Despite being told the post is cursed Deborah becomes chair of the newly revived parish council and, whilst the villagers stall the inspector,who has arrived early, she tries to get cash from bombastic mill-owner Horace Trubshaw. He agrees providing Tom will pick three workers for him to sack,which Tom refuses. However he is 'persuaded' to provide funds when his put-upon chief clerk Jack Stubbs exposes him for embezzlement. Jack's son,who has diphtheria, goes missing and the inspector - who has been generally humiliated by the plan to stall him - is so impressed by the community's response to locate the little boy that he approves the hospital. Eddie finds he has somehow asked Jean AND Helen to the pictures and is dumped by both of them.
Buried Treasure
S1 Ep4
8.0
12th May 2002
Tom is perplexed by carpenter Bert Cartwright's hostility to doctors until he learns that Bert blames Arthur for the death of his little boy years earlier. When Annie,Bert's wife, falls ill, Bert resists her hospitalisation but ,in her delirium, she mistakes Michael for her son who 'watches over her' and agrees to go, saving her life. Michael finds ancient coins in the woods but when the Reverend Brewer and station master Wilf start digging for treasure they unearth an unexploded bomb. Fortunately ex-munitions worker Phyllis knows how to defuse it - or thinks she does,but at least the remainder of the coins are unearthed.
Brothers in Arms
S1 Ep5
8.0
19th May 2002
Swaggering Frank Cosgrove, older brother of Len,injures himself driving his train when he stops to avoid a dog. He is a rude,reluctant patient but Tom discovers his twin secrets - he has diabetes,which is affecting his sight, and he is not the war hero he has always claimed to be. However he rises to the occasion when Tom's daughter Catherine gets trapped beneath a car and Len also proves himself to be a hero,apprehending a smooth con man who has robbed Jean. Tom bans his father from the hospital for using it to store his explosive home brew but there is a reconciliation at a family christening after the villagers have turned out to rescue Catherine.
Lost Souls
S2 Ep1
8.0
20th Apr 2003
An abandoned child proves a mystery for Tom, while a haunted parishioner and a train load of stuffed animals cause troubles for Arthur and Reverend Brewer.
Born and Bred Episode Guide
The Best Man
S1 Ep1
7.0
21st Apr 2002
The 1950s :- GP Tom Gilder and his family leave Manchester to attend a wedding in Tom's native village Ormston, where his father Arthur is the doctor. Arthur's nurse Linda is marrying local copper Len, who wakes up nude in the centre of the village after a raucous stag night. The train carrying wedding guests breaks down and Linda has second thoughts but the wedding goes off well though one of the guests collapses.Father and son work well as a team to treat him and Arthur, who mistrusts the N.H.S. and is considering retirement, is pleased when Tom wins over his wife Deborah and agrees to take over his father's practice,with Arthur as consultant in charge of the cottage hospital.
Nothing Like the Son
S1 Ep2
9.0
28th Apr 2002
Tom is appalled by the informal way Arthur runs his practice but both men combine to try and talk sense into their cleaner Edie McClure, sister of pub landlady Phyllis, whom Edie disdains for giving up on her marriage. Edie has a weak heart but is determined,against doctors' advice, to see through her seventh pregnancy as she has six daughters and is desperate for a son. Matters are taken out of her hands when she miscarries but reconciliation with Phyllis follows. Eddie,the hunky garage mechanic ,asks for advice from scrap-dealer Jean about dating Tom's teenaged daughter Helen but Jean misunderstands and assumes he wants to date her whilst Tom's son Michael gets revenge on a bullying schoolmaster.
The Inspector Calls
S1 Ep3
8.0
5th May 2002
With no cash available to pay builders the villagers rally to get the cottage hospital up to scratch before an N.H.S. inspector arrives to approve it.Despite being told the post is cursed Deborah becomes chair of the newly revived parish council and, whilst the villagers stall the inspector,who has arrived early, she tries to get cash from bombastic mill-owner Horace Trubshaw. He agrees providing Tom will pick three workers for him to sack,which Tom refuses. However he is 'persuaded' to provide funds when his put-upon chief clerk Jack Stubbs exposes him for embezzlement. Jack's son,who has diphtheria, goes missing and the inspector - who has been generally humiliated by the plan to stall him - is so impressed by the community's response to locate the little boy that he approves the hospital. Eddie finds he has somehow asked Jean AND Helen to the pictures and is dumped by both of them.
Buried Treasure
S1 Ep4
8.0
12th May 2002
Tom is perplexed by carpenter Bert Cartwright's hostility to doctors until he learns that Bert blames Arthur for the death of his little boy years earlier. When Annie,Bert's wife, falls ill, Bert resists her hospitalisation but ,in her delirium, she mistakes Michael for her son who 'watches over her' and agrees to go, saving her life. Michael finds ancient coins in the woods but when the Reverend Brewer and station master Wilf start digging for treasure they unearth an unexploded bomb. Fortunately ex-munitions worker Phyllis knows how to defuse it - or thinks she does,but at least the remainder of the coins are unearthed.
Brothers in Arms
S1 Ep5
8.0
19th May 2002
Swaggering Frank Cosgrove, older brother of Len,injures himself driving his train when he stops to avoid a dog. He is a rude,reluctant patient but Tom discovers his twin secrets - he has diabetes,which is affecting his sight, and he is not the war hero he has always claimed to be. However he rises to the occasion when Tom's daughter Catherine gets trapped beneath a car and Len also proves himself to be a hero,apprehending a smooth con man who has robbed Jean. Tom bans his father from the hospital for using it to store his explosive home brew but there is a reconciliation at a family christening after the villagers have turned out to rescue Catherine.
Judgement Day
S1 Ep6
26th May 2002
Neville Manly, the shy new NHS inspector declares the cottage hospital the official annexe to Rattenbury General. To celebrate, Deborah revives the Flower of the Valley beauty contest, to be judged by Neville, who finds himself under siege from the competitive entrants. Arthur visits stroppy Sally Waddington, the local telephone operator,who has not set foot outdoors for ten months,since her mother was put in a home,suffering from dementia. She believes she too is going mad but she is agoraphobic.When Jean breaks her ankle Wilf rings for help but the ancient exchange, already faulty, blows up and Sally has to face her fears to fetch Arthur personally. In hospital next to Jean she tells Arthur, who is feeling side-lined, how much Tom appreciates him, as well as encouraging Jean to enter the beauty contest where the besotted Neville declares her the winner, restoring her self-confidence. When the celebrations end Arthur discovers that Tom and Deborah have moved him into their house.
