 ITV1 presents a brand new daytime medical drama, The Royal Today. The back drop for this gritty, realistic new drama serial is the established hospital, St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital, made famous by one of ITV's flagship shows, The Royal. Whilst The Royal is set in the 1960s, The Royal Today fast forwards almost 40 years to modern day Britain and life working in the NHS in 2008. Jonathan Ormerod, a baby in the 1960s drama, is now working as a consultant physician having followed in the footsteps of both his parents, Gordon Ormerod and Jill Weatherill. It may be the same hospital, but life and times have certainly changed and The Royal Today has a very contemporary edge. Among the strong line up of cast, Paul Nicholas plays cantankerous Surgeon Mr Woods, a man with a hard exterior who occasionally allows his soft centre to rise to the surface; Leah Bracknell shines as the glamorous matron, determined to keep the hospital in order; Ben Hull is the charge nurse who struggles to keep his personal life at the door, particularly as his girlfriend is a nurse on the same ward; and Andrew Scarborough as Jonathan Ormerod, a doctor so conscientious that his marriage has paid the price, however, Dr Sarah Chatwin (Kirsty Mitchell), on the other hand, is happy to offer a shoulder for him to cry on. With a blend of comedy and drama, The Royal Today is an engaging insight into modern day
relationships, the trails and tribulations of working within the NHS and the life and death decisions nurses and doctors take each day. |
