Malpractice season 2 is slower than the first – here's why

However, that isn't the only change - the show is also set in a different hospital, and focuses on a different medical speciality, moving away from the A&E department and to the world of psychiatry.

Psychiatry was writer Grace Ofori-Attah's speciality when she was a doctor, meaning she had plenty of experience on what to base the series.

However, it's an area which many viewers may be less aware of, and Ofori-Attah has revealed this has had an effect on the show's pace.

Speaking exclusively with RadioTimes.com, Ofori-Attah said: "It's a lot more obvious with an A&E situation where everything just is inherently quick turnover. See a patient, quick, on to the next risk.

"With psychiatry, it's a slow burn. But once something happens, you're off and away, and it's very fast-paced."

She continued: "I hope that people who are watching it aren't like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm watching a completely different show to series 1,' because it is all there and everything that is presented up until the incident is relevant to the story going forward.

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"So, it starts off a bit slower, but it's a slow build, and it's an important build that demonstrates the complexity of psychiatry and where it sits in that sort of hierarchy.

"Because it's hard to set up for an audience the kind of culture of specialties within the NHS, and that's sort of what we tried to do in the beginning, where you see Dr Ford navigating the final hour or two of his shift, and what to prioritise."

The second season of Malpractice follows Dr Ford as he finds himself caught between an anxious new mother’s postnatal check-up and the sectioning of a psychotic patient, a situation which leads to a devastating outcome.

An investigation into his behaviour begins, led by returning characters Dr Norma Callahan and Dr George Adjei of the Medical Investigation Unit.

Norma is played by Helen Behan, who, when speaking with RadioTimes.com alongside Ofori-Attah, revealed that she got "hints" as to where the story would go ahead of time, but that the writer "comes in with this absolute slammer of a script, and it changes your mind completely about your approach to it".

"You don't get the full tilt straight away," Behan said, "you get drip fed, which is torture, but I very much read it like an audience member.

"You’ll get an arc, but then so much changes when you come up to shoot, and things are drafted and changed, and it's just so much better, always, than you think it’s going to be, and then [it] turns into this explosion of great drama.

"So I was kind of finding it out as it was developing, which was thrilling to play."

Malpractice returns 9pm Sunday 4th May on ITV1 and ITVX, with season 1 available to stream now on ITVX.

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