7.8 /10 1 Votes
6.9/10 TV Country of origin United Kingdom Final episode date 13 December 2006 | 8.5/10 IMDb First episode date 23 June 2004 Number of episodes 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by Jed MercurioRachel AnthonyRichard Zajdlic Starring Max BeesleyPatrick BaladiNeve McIntoshKeith AllenSusan LynchTamzin MallesonPreeya KalidasSimon LoweHattie MorahanVicky HallNicholas PalliserSaskia ReevesMary Stockley Cast Similar Holby City, Critical, Cardiac Arrest, Casualty, Monroe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bodies series 1 episode 1 part 1
Bodies is a British television medical drama produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. Created by Jed Mercurio, the series first broadcast on 23 June 2004, and is based on Mercurio's book of the same name. The series is centred on specialist registrar Rob Lake (Max Beesley), who starts in a new post in the Obstetrics and gynaecology department at the fictional South Central Infirmary, under the guidance of consultant obstetrician Roger Hurley (Patrick Baladi).
Contents
- Bodies series 1 episode 1 part 1
- Bodies 3 the finale
- Broadcast
- Cast
- Series 1 2004
- Series 2 2005
- References
The series differed from most other archetypal British hospital dramas, in that the surgical scenes were notable for their graphic nature, offering intimate detail of various procedures, and the operational complications dealt with in explicit detail. As a result, the themes were also often dark and depressing, including negligence, manipulation and death. Bodies has been described as a "dark, sometimes funny" take on a genre that had been made popular through shows such as Casualty and Holby City. In December 2009, The Times ranked Bodies in ninth place in its list of "Shows of the Decade", and in January 2010, The Guardian ranked Bodies number twenty of "The Greatest Television Dramas of All Time".
The first series was released on DVD on 30 October 2006. The second series, including the finale, was released on 26 December 2006. A complete box set was released on 9 April 2007.
Bodies 3 the finale
Broadcast
The first series debuted on BBC Three, as at the time, the channel were trying to break out into hour-long dramas, and felt Bodies was a strong contender to offer. The first series soon made the move to a terrestrial channel, as BBC Two aired it towards the end of 2004. With end of the first series left open-ended, BBC Three and BBC Two co-commissioned a second series, increasing the number of episodes from six to ten. BBC Two debuted the second series in September 2005, with BBC Three airing the next episode straight after, like many other BBC dramas at the time.
Despite widespread critical acclaim, the BBC did not order a third series. However, after the second series ended, Max Beesley told BBC Radio 1's The Chris Moyles Show that an additional one or two episodes were being planned to conclude the series. Subsequently, a feature-length final episode was broadcast on 13 December 2006, on BBC Three. The entire first and second series were also broadcast to American audiences on digital channel BBC America during the Summer and Autumn of 2005.
Cast
Series 1 (2004)
Lake (Max Beesley) realises that despite his friendly, professional demeanour and strong academics, his colleague, Hurley (Patrick Baladi), is an incompetent surgeon who regularly bungles surgical procedures, to the detriment of his patients. Hurley is, however, protected by the principle "Doctors look after doctors", a phrase often repeated throughout the series. Initially, Lake is also protected by this principle, when his involvement in a death of a patient is covered up, although this death haunts him. Initially, Lake seeks to become a whistleblower, after seeing Hurley's gross incompetence and negligence, particularly after he badly mishandles a birth in which an abruption occurs, leaving the mother with substantial brain damage. The anaesthetist for the operation, Dr. Maria Orton (Susan Lynch), makes an official complaint against Hurley, but her colleagues close ranks around him. The pregnant Dr. Orton is ostracised, and the stress of the situation causes her to miscarry. She is eventually sectioned and admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Pressure from outside authorities, hospital politics and blackmail from Hurley eventually forces Lake into silence. Unable to oust him yet forced to work with him, Lake soon seeks a way out and finds a post at another hospital. But Hurley, despite agreeing that he should move on, changes his mind, ruins Lake's chance to escape by informing his new employers of Lake's mistakes and his real reasons for wanting to leave. At the end of the season, Hurley is shown to be in line for promotion as the hospital's clinical director. Lake, trapped in his job, comes clean to the relatives of the patient whose death he caused, so that, in his own words, he may be judged. The series ends on this cliffhanger.
Series 2 (2005)
The series continues with the main overlying storyline of the constant struggle between Hurley and Lake. This season also saw the arrival of a new departmental manager, Chrissy Farrell (Vicky Hall). At the start of the second series, Lake is about to leave the hospital but, with no real job prospects elsewhere, he decides to remain. Lake and Hurley then begin to form a respectful professional relationship, with Lake turning a blind eye to Hurley's incompetence. Despite this, Donna Rix (Neve McIntosh), a nurse with whom Lake was having an affair, views Hurley's ineptitude with increasing alarm. She starts to vocalize her distress and sends anonymous letters to Hurley and other members of staff in an attempt to bring wider attention to this issue. Lake, seeing this, pleads with Donna to act with restraint, claiming that Hurley will be brought down but not in this fashion. Towards the end of the series, Hurley's life begins to take a downward spiral. Attempts to have another child are scuppered after he finds out he has a low sperm count and furthermore, is suspected of having an affair with a fellow doctor, soon leading to the breakdown of his marriage.