Little does she know that Sarah hides a painful secret - she caught Anna's husband Tom in bed with one of the nurses, Fiona.
There's no time for trouble as the young bride Claudie, 30 years George's junior, makes her breath-taking entrance.
During the morning household scrum she puts on her battle armour to face the big day - hair, make-up, suit - looking every inch the professional.
Sarah's first client of the day is a border collie which needs a mammary strip - a straightforward operation but tricky without an ultrasound.
Fiona has the dog prepped, but when Sarah realises that the practice doesn't even have an ultrasound she freaks and walks out, heading back to David and London.
In her stalker style, Fiona confides she wants Tom to be a proper father to Theo, and that their night of passion wasn't a mistake - she chose him.
Episode 3 Still waiting for George's passport to arrive so they can go on honeymoon, Claudie is making her presence felt in the household.
George's unhappy about the rapid changes taking place in his practice until his daughter's remind him that, technically, he has retired.
While everyone has been involved trying out the new equipment, Claudie has been babysitting with disastrous consequences, putting her on a collision course with Anna who is apoplectic with rage.
Dashing upstairs, Anna uncovers more than she bargained for when she opens the box and her birth certificate floats to the floor.
It's Sunday and George and Claudie are late rising, arriving for their fry-up in matching black silk dressing gowns.
Setting off to buy the papers he doesn't come back for almost three hours, meaning Anna has to run the kids' errands.
Things come to a head when Tom gets his operation list confused and mistakenly castrates a prize pedigree stud dog.
Episode 5 Margaret's late again and the staff are beginning to make rumblings against her - namely Deborah and Fiona who suggest that she should reduce her hours.
But when the mare she's responsible for goes into labour, Montgomery's not pleased to discover that she's been sired by a gypsy pony and Matt is the person who has been taking his stable girl's mind off the job.
Alienated from the Williams family and no longer working at the practice, Fiona is delighted when her estranged father, Frank, arrives.
As Claudie's sister, Paula sets up her beauty practice in the staff room, there's chaos, resulting in Deborah's shock resignation.
Sarah confesses to Adrian that she's pregnant; Anna snogs Matt, Paula kisses Sebastian, Clare and Rick spend the night together and Claudie's brother, Liam, arrives unexpectedly.
Worried over his wife's whereabouts, Tom takes matters into his own hands, unleashing Anna's indignation at his assumed position in her life.
Sparks fly, and Anna's response to Tom's infidelity with Fiona is finally made clear when she asks him for a divorce.
Sarah and Anna are horrified to learn that Claudie's benefited from George's death after the insurance money comes through.
When her son's pet rabbit is taken ill, she rushes to The Chase and uses the opportunity to tackle her again but Anna stands firm against her.
The night brings both surprises and disappointment as Matt is offered a fantastic opportunity by Sebastian, but misses out on an evening with Anna.
Still reeling from Fiona's confession, Tom tries to gain Anna's attention, but she's distracted by the thought of losing the one new and exciting part of her life.
Armed with a dart gun, Tom dashes off to fulfil a lifetime dream of working with big game animals.
Episode 9 Deborah's moonlighting for William and has become virtually indispensable to him, organising everything from his mother's birthday present to the weekend's hunt.
Rumours start to circulate that William's going to poach her full-time, enraging Sarah who remembers only too well the chaos when Deborah last resigned.
The bad tempered discussion ends with a shock revelation which leaves Anna wondering what she's been working so hard for over the last ten years.
He assumes the worst, until Clare takes the plunge and finally reveals the dramatic truth as to why she can't answer his proposal.
Tom's plans are halted as the police discover a pair of wire cutters believed to be connected to George's death.