If you could believe the infinitely untalented Lindsay Wagner as 'The Bionic Woman,' you will have no problems with her in the title role of the three-hour TV-movie 'The Incredible Journey Od Doctor Meg Laurel' -- which is to say you'd probably believe anything. Ms. Wagner, whose acting runs the gamut from A to B and whose idea of characterization consists solely of occasionally brushing the hair from her eyes, is the weak link in an otherwise decent tale.

She plays a 1930's Boston doctor who decides to return to her Appalachian mountain roots to bring modern medicine to the impoverished, rustic people there. She meets hard opposition from the distrustful people and especially from the area's local doctor, the formidable Granny Arrowroot, whose medical trick-bag includes magical herbs and roots and accupunture.

Dr. Laurel's drive to work among the simple hill folk stems from her own mistreatment at the hands of another folk doctor when she was growing up in an orphanage in the mountains.
Memories of the encounters give nightmares, and she seeks to cure them by fulfilling a promise made to loving lady who runs to orphanage, Effie Webb. Dr. Laurel arrives in the hills just in time to see Effie die, but not before Effie has told Meg to try to work with Granny Arrowroot. Deathbed wishes are difficult to ignore, so she gives it a try.

Granny and Meg are bitter rivals for quite a spell in the often plodding tale. The hill folk are happy with Granny's marginal success rate with patients, chalking up her frequent failures to a higher, heavenly authority. It takes a child whom Meg meets when she first enters the mountains to begin to turn the tide.

The little girl is unfortunate recipient of scores of bee-stings, a Meg doctoring pull her through the potentially tragic situation. Her mountain man father thinks Meg has stolen the child, and only later recants his anger with Meg. It takes an illness that strikes Meg to get Granny and the others to promote a peace between them.

Oscar-winner Jane Wyman carries much of the tale in her role as Granny. Her simple, low-keyed delivery aids her effective characterization. Gary Lockwood, unrecognizable behind a full beard, turns in one of his best performances as the crude, distrustful mountain man. Dorothy McGuire makes an all-too-brief appearance as the kindly Effie.

James Woods, perhaps best know for his role in 'Holocaust,' turns in a sensitive performance as the area's resident Sin Eater, a strane character called upon only when people die, and the rest of the time forced to live alone in the woods. Like most of the others touched by Meg's invading knowledge, the Sin Eater ultimately develops a grudging admiration for her.

The tale contains one scene that might be deemed controversial, despite its simple honesty. It involves mountain man Lockwood's youthful soon-to-be bride, who seeks out Meg or an explanation of that uniquely feminine condition euphemistically referred to as "the curse." Meg's explanation is straightforward, and as close as the entire drama gets to any mention of sex.

Despite assurances to the contraryby CBS, 'The Incredibler Journey Of Doctor Meg Laurel' has all the trappings of a series pilot. Its simple, low-keyed style and 1930's setting would make it an ideal replacement for 'The Waltons,' which probably won't return in the fall. Ideal, that is, if some talent could be found to fill the title role. The formerly bionic bore doing the job here just doesn't cut it.

William Beamon