The Clinic

OK, I will admit I am biased. I have been friends with the actor who plays Alex Walsh on the series for many years and therefore ordered the DVD's to view them in the states. However, now having seen all of season 1 and 2 (Season 3 is not yet out on DVD) I can say that the character development and plot lines are really good. Although originally I just ordered this to just see Sammy's performance, I was pleasantly surprised with the acting and writing on the series as a whole. The writers have done a good job developing each of the characters as individuals who have their own problems and issues outside the clinic and yet the series never looses its main focus of all the characters working together to make the clinic run smoothly. A used likened this series to the American TV series "ER". I would disagree. Being from the US and having watched ER for most of its run, I can say that ER is focused much more on the medical drama whereas "The CLinic" focuses much more on the interpersonal relationships and characters. Even without the medical drama, the show is highly enjoyable and I would recommend it

When I first read in a local Irish paper that we were to get an Irish Medical drama my thoughts instantly went to those terrible medical dramas that were in the form of aussie soap operas. However I was pleasantly surprised by the high entertainment in it. Up until then the Irish networks had tried their best to give us some high quality entertainment but kept on falling sort of their target.

The first night I sat down with a couple of beers and began to watch it I was curious as to who the cast were. I looked up the Internet Movie Database Base that night and discovered that I had seen most of them before in terrible shows but this was their best effort. The standard of acting throughout was of a very high quality. Each actor slipped into their roles very comfortably indeed and this was the making of it really.

From the first show to the last one each actor/character developed individually each having a crisis in most episodes but it was a recurring theme in each episode that was the development of the character/overall story you see. But to be totally honest with you the script was pretty weak. The script had all the usual medical drama's going on in it and their was nothing new but it was that the acting and the emotions displayed on screen to us that made the show worthwhile.

It has taken the Irish network bosses nearly 50 years to provide us with a great drama and they have finally succeeded in doing so. It will be interesting to see if there is a series two and where it will take us.

The first several seasons of this show really reeled me in but I really wish there had been a warning that the series ends abruptly in season 7 with TONS of loose ends that need tying up, including 2 main characters who might or might not be dead!! I should've guessed it would end this way when so many other characters starting leaving after a couple of seasons, with weak excuses or zero explanations. I wish I hadn't gotten so wrapped-up in staying with this one after the first few seasons. LET THIS BE YOUR WARNING!!

However, if that's not a problem for you, there are some really good performances from some known (as well as some unknown to American audiences) Irish actors/actresses. I was delighted see a very young Chris O'Dowd and, later on a very young Aidan Turner who both showed great promise in their early acting roles which we've seen grow to fruition through the years. The series is more of a soap-opera-type drama than strictly a medical drama so it attracts viewers of both types of shows.

The writing got worse, the episode stories more absurd. It was fun but the false medical information and ludicrous situations made the show more like American TV series like Dallas.

What most of the world lives about British TV is how real it is. No need for mass shootings/car chases/endless showing of T&A, drug lords, etc. (England/Scotland/Ireland/Wales/Aussie).

What I discovered is that beginning in Season 4, the two creators stopped writing and each episode was written by someone different. That explains why the show began to feel so different, so really disjointed. The creators were idiots to let go.

But to finish a series as a cliff hanger? I will now check to make sure that I avoid the people who wrote/produced Clinic. Cannot defend themselves. They eventually ruined their show by trying to copy American bs and doing a terrible job...thus the ratings declined.

This isn't for everybody. Too many viewers (drowning in American slick slop) will need a cheaper fix. But for those who understand how a quality soap is made, it is close to heaven.

The acting is universally good, even great at times. The direction shows competence even when the script occasionally slows. But the scriptwriters do a superb job: never preaching, always entertaining.

Ireland thank you. It's not Wilde, but it's not supposed to be. And I have fallen in love with almost every character - beautiful, sad and wicked - just because they are so believable.

I have never before watched a medical soap which practically makes you feel like a voyeur in a real life clinic. Of course, reality would be unwatchable. The Clinic is sometimes mesmerising.