“What do they say? Life laughs at those who make plans.”

Episode 4 of The Good Karma Hospital begins with Doctors Walker and Varma still at the picturesque plantation, still reeling from last week’s cliffhanger revelation.

“He wants to talk to you.”

“Who? My uncle or my father?”

Varma tries to mediate but Ruby is in no mood to listen to what their host has to say, telling him in no uncertain terms not to contact her again before she leaves and before the opening titles have even rolled. But a road accident forces them back to the plantation, giving Ruby the chance to make some sort of peace with her new found sister and father.

Back at the hospital Pramila, an old friend of Sister Mari’s turns up, pregnant with twins and about to give birth. It turns out she’s is acting as a surrogate for her aunt and uncle in exchange for a new life in London, “so we’d better make sure things go smoothly”. But not surprisingly given that it‘s a medical drama, things don’t quite go according to plan. When one of the twins is diagnosed with a life limiting condition the adopting parents leave suddenly with the other healthy child, leading a lonely Mari to make an offer to adopt the ailing one.

“She needs someone to love her. I need someone to love.”

Elsewhere, with Greg busy planning a fish dinner with Lydia, Paul, resplendent in his Aston Villa shirt, is travelling about on his own this week without his bar owner buddy.

“It’s India, it’s Tuesday, it’s another bloody festival.”

He soon finds himself with a new sightseeing companion however – a young woman who volunteers to help him cross a busy road only to miraculously survive being knocked down herself. She puts her survival simply down to being a goddess, a claim that unnerves Paul, especially when she reveals knowledge of his late wife that only he would know, and motivates Dr Nair to finally propose to his matchmaker girlfriend: “Today I met a goddess and now I want to marry one.”

While it has plenty of feel good charm, this felt an odd episode and not just because of the goddess storyline – Ruby is notable by her absence in part 4. At times it feels like an end of season episode, especially the final scene, until you remember that there are still two episodes of the run still to go.

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