Radio Times

Review by:

Alison Graham

Nineteen-year-old Josh arrives in A&E at King’s College Hospital, cocooned in a neck brace and bubble wrap, and bellowing in pain. He’s been crushed between a barge and the riverbank and he can’t move his legs. Staff are worried he has suffered catastrophic pelvic injuries while his parents, as we later learn, try not to say the unsayable — that their son might be paralysed.

It’s another warm, life-affirming episode of a series that just keeps hitting the spot every single time. And I love the juxtaposition of the critical care in the thick of the department with the whines of people in the waiting room.

One couple — the woman has dropped an ironing board on her foot — moan about the wait and their disappointment with the service. “They should have those satisfaction cards that you get in McDonald’s,” says the man. He’s very cross by the end, when she gets the all-clear: “Two hours [waiting] to be told nothing’s wrong?”

About this programme

5/14. A 19-year-old is flown in with a possible penile fracture resulting from a canal barge accident, and while his parents make jokes to try to lighten the atmosphere, the injury could have serious repercussions for his future. A man with an injured finger following a night of clubbing contemplates his upcoming gender reassignment therapy, which will include taking hormones, while an 80-year-old with terminal cancer arrives after collapsing at her home.

Cast and crew

Crew

Executive Producer

Tom McDonald

Executive Producer

Nick Curwin

Series Producer

Kirsty Cunningham

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