The series stood out because of its surreal humour. It concerned an idealistic young doctor, Stephen Daker (Peter Davison), taking up a post as a member of a university medical centre. The centre is staffed by a group of misfits including the lesbian Rose Marie (Barbara Flynn) and self-absorbed Bob Buzzard (David Troughton), and headed by a decrepit Scotsman (Graham Crowden). Hugh Grant made one of his first television appearances in a bit part.
In the first series, Daker had a romance with a policewoman, Lyn Turtle, who rescued him from drowning in the university's swimming pool. In the second series, she was replaced as love interest by a visiting Polish academic. In a follow-up series, A Very Polish Practice, Daker went to live with her in Poland, where he struggled with the Communist system's antiquated health service.