Quacks

After a botched amputation, showman surgeon Robert is put under pressure by the royal physician; Robert's wife, Caroline, finds herself frustrated with her lot as a housewife and seeks help from Robert's friend William.

Caroline nabs an invitation to meet her hero, Charles Dickens; John finds himself with a new protégé when he takes an orphan under his wing.

William has a patient with extreme monomania who has a fervent belief that he will be seized by spies at any moment and put on trial for being a French noble; Caroline is determined to advance her medical knowledge.

Caroline arranges for herself and William to meet a hypnotist; William has a bladder stone and needs an operation; William faces a choice between excruciating pain or taking John's potentially lethal new drug, chloroform, during surgery.

Robert has a seemingly unsolvable case when the Bishop of Lambeth needs his appendix removed, or he will die; William is put under pressure to prove that his methods can cure madness.

Caroline asks William to run away with her, but Robert senses he is losing his wife's affections and turns to William for advice; Robert's rival, French surgeon Patrice DuPont, is due to perform surgery on a prestigious patient.