Cardiac Arrest

1994

Seasons & Episodes

  • 3
  • 2
  • 1

8.1| 0h30m| en
Synopsis

This series shows the workings of an English hospital through the eyes of its junior doctors. Naive and idealistic Dr Andrew Collins (Andrew Lancel), soon realises he still has much to learn. His boss, Dr Claire Maitland (Helen Baxendale) on the other hand, has seen it all. She is a competent doctor, with a cynical view, and is ready to work the system when needed, but she and Collins work well together as she guides him through the many minefields of working in the NHS.

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Reviews

Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Paul Stringer Gripping, compulsive viewing. This series was the BBC at its best. It sits alongside the likes of Tenko, Edge of Darkness, Brideshead Revisited, This Life as the cream of British drama. Its dark, uncompromising humour never failed to entertain thoroughly. It was so good as it managed to be left field but not esoteric, funny but not soft, sexy but not gratuitously so. It remains Helen Baxendale's best work by a country mile. This sort of drama has been lost to a seemingly unending tidal wave of reality TV banality. Series producers need to watch this time and again to understand what really works. It died too soon.
tintinbike I was close to an individual working as a Junior NHS doc and they told me this was more like a documentary than a drama. I found it compelling and scary to watch. Its strength was watching individuals be subsumed by a monster of a system designed to care for the sick and how they survived. Apparently the Royal College of Nurses complained about the portrayal of nurses as less than angelic, this combined with Helen Baxendale leaving meant a short but bitter sweet run.See "Bodies" for more of the same from the script writer who is/was a hospital doctor.
DPYPER Cardiac arrest has to be the best hospital series made. Yes it was unpopular with the people but was a reflection of life in the NHS not as a patient but as staff. Espically the Junior house doctors who along with the nursing staff make the system work.
magicjohnson Outstanding stuff! This is clearly one of the classic dark comedies. Why it's not more highly thought of is a mystery. It could be nostalgia, but I still think it's almost perfect...There is a lot of great stuff in this. It is perfectly written - harsh but with enough edge to the humour to keep things in balance. I can't fault the casting either; Helen Baxendale hasn't had a better role since and the whole ensemble plays with panache. It sounds simple but so few people get it right - especially in the UK. You can make a darkly hued comic drama work, if you write it properly and cast it well.Where is it's successor? Come to think of it (especially given it's current relevance) where's the DVD?