The Pitt star Noah Wyle is on this week's Radio Times cover

Noah Wyle stars in The Pitt, the gritty medical drama from the makers of ER, and the show that real doctors recommend.

Shawn Hatosy and Noah Wyle in The Pitt stood next to each other as they look seriously ahead.

Warrick Page/Max

Published: Tuesday, 24 March 2026 at 10:12 am

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We feature a different kind of drama on our cover this week, one that swaps stylised thrills for something altogether more bracing: verisimilitude. The Pitt, the US medical drama starring Noah Wyle, has already won armfuls of awards in America and now it's coming to British screens.

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Don't get me started on TV shows set in newspaper or magazine offices – for me they're almost never like the real thing. And, it turns out, doctors feel much the same about medical dramas.

Yet The Pitt appears to be the exception. This is a show that America's doctors actually watch and, more tellingly, recognise. Many say it's the closest that television has come to capturing the reality of life on the front line.

Each episode follows an hour in a single shift in a Pittsburg emergency department, unfolding in real time, with Wyle's Dr "Robby" Rabinovitch at the centre, trying to hold things together as the pressure mounts. It's urgent, messy and emotionally exacting in a way that feels unusually unvarnished.

In our cover feature, we talk to Noah Wyle to find out what makes The Pitt cut through, and why it's striking such a chord with those who know the job best. It's proof, if any were needed, that realism, done well, can be every bit as gripping as spectacle.

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Radio Times cover featuring Noah Wyle in character for The Pitt.

Mark Peterson / Redux / eyevine

Also in this week's Radio Times:

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The Pitt season 1 is available on HBO Max in the UK from Thursday 26 March. Season 2 begins on 2 April.

Add The Pitt to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.

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Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

Radio Times editor Shem Law wears a shirt, tie and grey jumper. He is sitting at a wooden desk behind a sign saying "Editor" clasping his hands. There are other items on the desk, including a dial telephone and typewriter.

Shem Law

Shem Law is the brand editor of Radio Times, and the 20th person to hold that esteemed position in over 100 years. He wasn't allowed a television growing up, but over the years he has rather overcompensated for that fact.

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