Doomwatch - A ground-breaking series.

Doomwatch is the nickname for the Department of Measurement of Scientific Work. Under the leadership of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Dr. Spencer Quist, the Doomwatch team struggled, for three seasons, to keep an eye on the environment and supervise government and private sector research in an attempt to prevent pollution and other disasters that might be caused by the misuse of new scientific developments, discoveries and technology. While confronting dangers ranging from a plastic-eating bacteria to a hyper-intelligent species of rats, from mind-destroying sound waves to toxic wastes and genetic mutations, the Doomwatch team always found themselves under the gun, from unsupportive governmental superiors, and openly hostile corporations, and the powerful influences they could wield. The Doomwatch team initially consisted of Quist, former intelligence agent Dr. John Ridge, eager young researcher Toby Wren, technician and computer specialist Colin Bradley, and secretary Pat Hunnisett. During the subsequent seasons there would be a high turnover rate in Doomwatch membership, with only Quist, Ridge, and Bradley surviving all three seasons.

A plane dissolves in mid-air, its plastic components eaten away. Doomwatch faces its first challenge: to halt the disastrous spread of a man-made virus with the power to melt all plastic.

Doomwatch are alerted to reports of a number of attacks on humans by rats. Toby and Bradley investigate the house of Mr. and Mrs. Chambers, victims of a recent attack; the two scientists lay traps in the kitchen, but the rodents display unusual intelligence by jamming the traps open using cutlery found on a worktop, and then viciously attack the men. Meanwhile, Ridge becomes involved with Doctor Mary Bryant, who has been conducting experiments on a group of rats in a room in her flat - but the rats have managed to escape, and have now turned carnivorous.

Doomwatch are joined by Doctor Robson, sent to undertake tests on the new 'Sahara' spray which is apparently capable of destroying all plant-life on the planet. But when Quist receives a phone call from the ministry, he is given orders to immediately suspend both Robson and Toby without any explanation. Closer investigation leads Quist and his team to discover that a new computerised security system run by Commander Keeping and Barker has become far too powerful, and is making its own decisions about government personnel.

The first nuclear-powered rocket, Sunfire One, is sent into space with the first British astronaut, Dick Larch, on board. After the rocket enters Earth orbit, Larch enters an incorrect course alteration, and fails to see the error indicator, which results in Sunfire One splashing down in the sea. Quist is asked by Doctor Goldsworthy to determine whether Larch is suitable for any further missions, as another such mistake could result in the spacecraft becoming a nuclear bomb.

While on the way to work, secretary Pat Hunnisett takes a free promotional chocolate from a group of girls on the street. Meanwhile, at the Doomwatch office, Quist and his team are investigating the sudden increase in the country's smokers, and are surprised when Pat arrives and lights up a cigarette for the first time in five years. Quist suspects that there could be a link between the promotional chocolates and 'Checker Board' cigarettes, whose recent sales are doing unexpectedly well. Should subliminal advertising be allowed?

Dr Quist attempts to go on holiday, but gets involved instead in a series of jet engine experiments causing harm and the same mysterious hallucination.

Two thousand animals are found dead in the Somerset countryside. Doomwatch investigate whether or not a new pesticide is to blame.

The Doomwatch team look into serious health issues experienced by male workers at a Welsh battery farm.

Quist's authority is questioned from all directions, and Ridge does some quiet investigations into hybrid science in Norwich.

Ridge and Hardcastle are sent on what seems a simple enough assignment, but stumble onto a major government cover up in an abandoned English manor.

Doomwatch become involved with the inhabitants of a small, secluded island who have been forced to leave for the English mainland and are struggling to survive.

A deadly new strain of typhoid is sweeping through local schools. There is a treatment, though, and the team at Doomwatch endorse this in spite of its side effects.

The Doomwatch team investigates the myth about the XYY chromosome after a schoolboy is expelled for possessing it.

A computer oversees the wellbeing of patients at a local hospital. The Doomwatch team look into whether it is saving patients or if something more sinister is afoot.

After a long-haul flight Dr Quist's reputation is put seriously in doubt when he arrives drunk to a meeting with the Prime Minister. Is it a simple case of jet-lag, or sabotage?

The Doomwatch team investigate the mysterious outbreak of a deadly subtropical disease which somehow has cropped up on an isolated island off the coast of the UK.

The death of a young man off the Scottish coast leads to the Doomwatch team investigating a cover-up in the case of a sunken ship, and the discovery of a revolutionary life-changing science.

The government wants direction for the possible construction of more high-rise apartment buildings. Fay Chantry is asked to live in one and supply a report based on her experiences.

An inquest is held into the death of a local girl from rabies. How was she infected? A local woman thinks she knows, and she doesn't believe dogs are involved.

A powerful antidote formula has been stolen near a school full of gifted boys. Are they responsible, and is computer technology somehow to blame?

A young boy dies while attempting to retrieve a ball from a high roof, but the cause of his death is not from falling. Doomwatch investigate.

A vicar collapses during a sermon, and there are seemingly unrelated events, one involving John Ridge. The answers are out there, but are obscured by big business and profit margins.

A radical new procedure has been developed for treating violent criminals. The results are extremely positive, but Anne Tarrant is not convinced of its ethics.

Doomwatch's Anne Tarrant and Spencer Quist are placed on a government committee investigating whether the UK's censorship laws should be revised. The committee's work brings them into contact with both anti-pornography pressure groups and a man who hopes to one day be a dictator.