Ditte is born out of wedlock and lives as a young girl with her old beloved grandmother. As an illegitimate child she is teased in school and more than anything in the world she wants a father. When steady - utterly reliable - herring dealer Lars Petter shows up and tells her that he is marrying Ditte's mother, the little girl is very happy. Now Ditte must take care of three new sisters and brothers but gets nothing but complaints from her ungrateful, selfish mother. But the little girl finds consolation and support in both her sisters and brothers and Lars Petter.
Set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, the city and country's main hospital, nicknamed "Riget", a number of characters, staff and patients alike, encounter bizarre phenomena, both human and supernatural.
A middle aged married woman suffers from depression. Her husband suggests she get a dog, but instead she gets a job. Treatment of the women workers leads her into a hilarious fantasy in which roles are reversed and bearded men sit behind typewriters worrying about their looks and what to buy for dinner. She gets involved in a strike and loses her job, but has found some friends and a more positive attitude to life.
