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6 telltale symptoms of a classic TV medical drama

We’re going to need 20ccs of drama, STAT.

EVERY KIND OF TV programme has its own set of recognisable traditions that we all know and love.

Whether you’re a fan of drama, crime, sci-fi, sitcoms or soaps, each type of TV programme has recognisable traits that we all know and love.

As for medical dramas? Well, let’s see…

1. Against the odds

Medical shows often have a central doctor figure battling serious personal problems while also doing ground-breaking medical work. Either they’re battling a turbulent home life, their own issues, or conflicts with colleagues. Life never seems to run smoothly for these poor docs.

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2. Cutting it fine

Shows set in hospitals present life or death situations at every turn. And unlike in sitcoms, we REALLY mean life or death. These shows can be real tearjerkers when things go awry.

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3. Under pressure

As in life, hospitals are often struggling with budget cuts. This puts our hard-bitten, no-nonsense docs (see above) under even more pressure.

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4. Paging Dr Drama…

Ah, the medicine-themed TV programme staple: an operating room in chaos. Let’s not forget the gurneys banging through those swinging doors as they race against the clock, with plenty of blood to boot.

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5. Tough love

Often, the boss (or “chief” in most cases) has a tough love approach to the job BUT they also have a heart of gold. Natch.

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6. Not quite what it seems

Seem like it’s just the common cold? Nope, it’s actually the plague. Illnesses are never plain and simple in hospital dramas – well, after all, that’s why we love them so much, right? Well, that and all of the above, of course…

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Yes, The Knick is a medical drama – but not as you know it. It’s the latest programme from Steven Soderbergh, starring Clive Owen, and it’s set in downtown New York City during the early part of the twentieth century. 

It takes place in a fictionalised version of The Knickerbocker Hospital and tracks the professional and personal lives of ground-breaking surgeons, nurses and staff who pushed the boundaries of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics.

Coming to Sky Atlantic this October. Click here for an extended preview

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