The Young Doctors

This article is about the soap opera. For the 1961 film, see The Young Doctors (film).
The Young Doctors
Genre Soap opera
Created by Alan Coleman
Directed by Alan Coleman
Reg Watson
Ian Coughlan
Max Varnel
David C. Wilson
Brian Faull
Peita Letchford
Kendal Flanagan
Chris Adshead
Mike Murphy
Chris Connelly
Michael Pattinson
Phillip Bowman
Rusty Buckley
Denny Lawrence
Starring (see detailed cast and character list below)
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 8
No. of episodes 1,396
Production
Location(s) TCN-9 Willoughby, New South Wales
Running time 25 minutes
Production company(s) Reg Grundy Organisation
Distributor FremantleMedia
Release
Original network Nine Network
Picture format 4.3 PAL
Audio format Stereo
Original release 8 November 1976 (1976-11-08) – 30 March 1983 (1983-03-30)

The Young Doctors was an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, rather than typical medical issues and procedures. It screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March 1983. The program was shown in numerous international locations, particularly throughout the United Kingdom, North America and also in France and Spain.

History

The series was created and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and started a week earlier than the Nine Networks' other soap opera, The Sullivans, which was produced by Crawford Productions. Nine Network made it clear only one of the series would be kept after 13 weeks.

After the 13-week trial period The Sullivans (which had a budget which was three times bigger than The Young Doctors) emerged as the critical success, so The Young Doctors was cancelled. Fans of The Young Doctors lobbied Channel 9, who reversed their decision. The Young Doctors continued in its 6.00 pm slot and had a successful run. After several years, many long running characters left the series and in the final season during 1982 several new cast members were added.

Producer and creator Alan Coleman also left, and was replaced by Sue Masters shortly before the series finished production in late 1982. Masters went on to produce Grundy's stablemate Prisoner from 1983; several The Young Doctors cast members, including Judy McBurney, Genevieve Lemon, Babs McMillan and Peter Bensley also went into leading roles in Prisoner after The Young Doctors finished.

The advent of one-day cricket led to Channel 9 moving the show around the schedules. These factors contributed to a decline in ratings which saw the series cancelled in late 1982. The final episode was aired in March 1983.[1]

When the series ended after 1396 episodes, it held the record of Australia's longest-running television drama series, which was previously held by Number 96. This was later surpassed by A Country Practice and then Neighbours, which is currently the longest-running Australian drama series.

The Young Doctors also holds the distinction, rare among long-running Australian dramas, of having never won any sort of television award.

Popular Actress Peta Toppano who appeared in the first season of Prisoner had also previously appeared in The Young Doctors for just over a year. One of the more popular cast members included Gwen Plumb, a recipient of the British Empire Medal and AM recipient for her service to the arts and communities service, who portrayed gossippy kiosk lady Ada Simmonds for the length of the series. The original cast members Lyn James who portrayed the doctors receptionist Helen Gordon and Tim Page who portrays Dr. Grahame Steele, appeared to the end of the series, as did Judy McBurney as Nurse Tania Livingstone who first appeared in episode 40.

The relatively long-running serial also achieved modest international cult success, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it aired in a daytime slot on the commercial ITV network. The programme was shown regionally, meaning each region was free the show the series as and when they liked. Central Independent Television were the first ITV region to start the serial from January 1982. Most other regions gradually followed over the next few years and Yorkshire Television were the last to start in 1988. Central were the first to finish in August 1992, and Westcountry Television was the last ITV region to air Young Doctors in December 1995.

Story and setting

Despite the medical setting, medical procedures rarely figured in storylines, with most of the stories and plots focusing more on the personal life and romances of the staff. The local Club Bunnys was another venue for the staff to mingle.

Cast

Character Actor/Actress
Heavy (episode 409 only)
Peter Meredith
Bathsheba Smith
Su Cruickshank
Trina Mitchell
Mariette Rupps
Nurse
Sharon Del-Mace
Professor Hume
Tim Elliott
VJ Ridgeway
Patrick McCarville
Trixie Rogers/Coco the Clown
Bunney Brooke
Sir Thomas Kendall
James Condon
Nurse Angela Parry
Robyn Gibbes
Mrs Featherstone
Muriel Hopkins
Mr Gantry
Craig Berry
Lois Norton
Penne Hackforth-Jones
Miss Emery
Brenda Senders
Billy Webb/Ric Martin (separate roles)
Gerry Sont
Gary Manning
John Allen
Nurse Martin Price
Greg Apps
Nurse Viki Rayner
Debbie Baile
Muriel Palmer
Joyce Jacobs
Mrs White/Vivienne Jeffries/Liz Kennedy's mother, Hazel Kennedy (separate roles)
Jessica Noad
Mr Kennedy
Bill Kerr
Roland Perry
Wallas Eaton
Philip Winter
Noel Trevarthen
Dr Brian Denham
Michael Beecher
Mrs Ada Simmonds
Gwen Plumb
Dr Graham Steele
Tim Page
Helen Gordon
Lyn James
Dennis Jamieson
Chris King
Dr Raymond Shaw
Alfred Sandor
Sister/Matron Grace Scott
Cornelia Frances
Nurse/Sister Tania Livingston
Judy McBurney
Nurse Kate Rhodes/Rachel Thorpe (evil sister)
Ros Wood
Nurse JoJo Adams
Delvene Delaney
Nurse Kim Barrington
Lynda Stoner
Nurse Lisa Brooks
Paula Duncan
Nurse Jill Gordon
Joanne Samuel
Dr John Forrest
Alan Dale
Nurse/Dr Liz Kennedy
Rebecca Gilling
Sister Vivienne Jeffries
Diana McLean
Sister Suzanne Gibbs
Susanne Stuart
Sister Eve Turner
Anne Lucas
Dr Craig Rothwell
John Walton
Dr Mike Newman
Peter Bensley
Dr Tony Garcia
Tony Alvarez
Dr Ben Fielding
Eric Oldfield
Dr Gail Henderson
Peta Toppano
Dr Jim Howard
John Dommett
Dr Chris Piper
Bartholomew John
Dr Peter Holland
Peter Lochran
Dr Greg Mason
Mark Holden
Dr Robyn Porter
Joy Chambers
Dr Susan Richards
Judy Lynne
Dr Russell Edwards
Peter Cousens
Dr Lance Wilkinson
Michael Gow
Dr Matt Blake
Nick Holland
Dr David Henderson
Graham Harvey
Dr Vicki Daniels
Sally Tayler
Dr Rod Langley
Chris Orchard
Dr Nick Barrett
Adrian Van Den Bok
Dr Vincent Snape
Brian Moll
Dr Andrew Baxter
Andrew Sharp
Ian Parrish
Serge Lazareff
Nurse Maggie Gordon
Jackie Woodburne
Nurse Sherry Andrews
Karen Pini
Nurse Jody Carter
Julie Wilson
Nurse Julie Holland
Lisa Aldenhoven
Nurse Dolly Davis
Christine Harris
Nurse Linda Wilson
Julie Nihill
Nurse Zelda Baker
Genevieve Lemon
Sister Erin Cosgrove
Babs McMillan
Nurse Virginia Mason
Rosie Bailey
Nurse Genevieve Ridgeway
Susan Stenmark
Mark Holland
Robert Leys
Toni Sheffield
Tottie Goldsmith
"Flint" Stone
Robert Korosy
Hilary Templeton
Abigail
Caroline Fielding/Morgan/Jamieson
Kim Wran
Laura Denham
Joanna Moore-Smith
Ken Hansen
Joe Hasham
Heinrik Smeaton
Joseph Furst
Bunny Howard
Ugly Dave Gray
Anne-Marie Austin
Judi Connelli
Sir Clifford Langley
Mike Dorsey
Nigel Gilbert
Jeremy Kewley
Nurse Diana Trent
Julianne White
Mr Cox
Brian Wenzel
Maureen Parker/Howard
Virginia Rudeno
Rosalie Parker
Carol Raye
Erika Hoffman/Shaw
Karen Petersen
Arthur Simmonds
Willie Fennell
Dr Judith-Anne Napier
Carole Skinner
Andrew Jackson
Alan Cinis
Clarrie Baker
Peter Adams

International screenings

United Kingdom The programme was acquired by 13 of the 14 weekday members of the ITV Network, Scottish Television never purchased the series. Most of the ITV regions initially screened The Young Doctors at their own regional pace in their 15:30 slot on Mondays and Tuesdays with Sons and Daughters on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

The Series was also broadcast in Trinidad, Barbados, Angola, the Netherlands and Canada.

Remake

In November 2007, the Nine Network announced plans to remake the series in conjunction with FremantleMedia. Originally, it was set to be broadcast in 2008 but due to script delays, the premiere date had been pushed back to 2009. The remake was set to be named Young Doctors (minus "The"). However, at the end of 2008, the Nine Network officially passed on the idea. The network decided against the remake, instead, confirming a second series of the popular Australian drama Underbelly. FremantleMedia is currently searching for another television station to contract the programme.[2]

DVD

Selected episodes of the serial were released on DVD in October 2006, under the title of The Best Romances. A second set of selected episodes, under the title of Classic Cliffhangers, was released in February 2008. In 1994, prior to the DVDs, a VHS was edited in the UK by "NTV entertainment" collecting episodes A, B (pilots) & 1.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.