The Supervet: Noel Fitzpatrick

Festive edition of the documentary following the work of Professor Noel Fitzpatrick and his team. Charity worker Kerry brings in Maxi, a three-year old rescue greyhound with severely damaged front legs. Noel's dog Keira is rushed into the practice with sickness and diarrhoea. The team also treats River, a Border terrier puppy who has fractured both back legs, and Noel makes a surprise visit home to Ireland.

In this festive special, Professor Noel Fitzpatrick enters new territory when he is called upon to help a Humboldt penguin chick. Wall-e is from Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire and needs an operation to cure his unhappy foot. He also treats a three-legged Maine Coon cat that needs help with a mysterious swelling in its back leg and a husky from Thailand undergoes hip surgery.

As the festive season approaches at Fitzpatrick Referrals, Professor Noel and his team treat three special patients. A one-year-old crossbreed puppy rescued by a charity from Romania is in need of complex surgery, with no guarantee of success. An eight-year-old Dalmatian needs work on its spinal cord, and a Labrador from Switzerland is having trouble walking. Noel's investigations reveal problems with both shoulder and elbow, an unusual combination that requires dramatic intervention.

A special festive edition following Noel Fitzpatrick as he treats former rescue dogs who have found a new life as family pets, but are still plagued by medical problems. The patients include a shih tzu with damaged discs that are treated with special supports, small pins and cement, a bulldog puppy with a fracture that extends across a growth plate, and a German shepherd that has had a leg amputated, and has developed a hip problem from walking on three legs.

Can Noel get singer Will Young's and model Yasmin Le Bon's dogs home for Christmas?