October 19th 2023.
Weekday lunchtimes will never be the same again. Yesterday it was confirmed that the long-running daytime BBC drama, Doctors, will be coming to an end in December 2024, a few months shy of its 25th anniversary. With the BBC freely admitting that the decision was not prompted by any decline in ratings, and with a petition to save the series already gaining many signatures, it begs the question why cancel it at all?
Leading cast member, Elisabeth Dermot Walsh, who plays headstrong GP and business partner Zara Carmichael, has expressed the ‘devastating’ impact of yesterday’s announcement on cast and crew, a feeling shared by all us fans. It also undermines the official rationale given for cancelling BBC medical favourite, Holby City, last year. We were told then that the London filmed show was being pulled at least partly to create ‘new opportunities’ for shows which ‘better reflect, represent and serve all parts of the country.’ Why then, is production being halted on Doctors which is produced in Birmingham, the sole serial drama produced in the West Midlands?
The show outstrips all other daytime rivals, with a healthy average of 1.5million viewers per day. And, the quality of the programme is as high as ever; having lasted for 23 years, to retain such a loyal audience in a difficult timeslot makes it a stable offering. When Doctors started back in 2000, most critics assumed it was primarily for Christopher Timothy’s character, Dr. Brendan ‘Mac’ McGuire. He left the show in 2006, but his tenure overlapped with that of Adrian Lewis Morgan who, after 18 years playing the warm-hearted Dr. Jimmi Clay, is now destined to be Doctors’ longest-serving cast member ever.
Along with the viewers of Doctors, Jimmi has been through more than his fair share of ups and downs over the years, being central to some of the most memorable plotlines. Earlier this year, Doctors won a British Soap Award for Jan Pearson’s performance as Karen. Jimmi saw his life thrown into chaos when he was wrongly convicted and sent to prison on drugs charges.
Meanwhile, his colleague, Daniel Grainger was himself jailed after being caught stealing to help finance his gambling addiction. Despite being entirely guilty, Daniel somehow managed to resurrect his medical career, before being ejected from the show recently after his long term on-off partner, Zara, finally gave him the heave-ho after a drink drive incident which endangered their young son.
The real warmth and success in Doctors lies in the everyday telling of a recognisable and familiar medical centre, relatable to everyone who watches in some capacity. It’s possible the series has been harmed by the departure of two popular long-running characters within the past year. Valerie Pitman left The Mill after being accused of fraud, while Karen Hollins died suddenly after a heart attack, providing Doctors with one of its biggest ever shock moments.
The current Doctors line-up remains strong however, with storylines focusing on Al Haskey’s slow physical and psychological recovery from a brutal assault, confirming Ian Midlane’s status as one of the finest soap actors on TV. Younger actors such as Kia Pegg, who plays receptionist Scarlett Kiernan, suggest Doctors’ best years might lie in the future, if only the series is given a chance.
It would be a travesty for this to be the end of the line for one of UK TV’s biggest staples, with so many more stories to tell, so many more actors and writers to discover, and one of the few dramas to represent a medical setting at a time when the NHS is constantly under the spotlight. Perhaps Netflix or Amazon should step in to save the day? After all, if Neighbours can survive cancellation and make a boomerang-style comeback, Doctors is more than capable of doing the same.
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