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Cardiac Arrest

  • TV Series
  • 1994–1996
  • 30m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
263
YOUR RATING
Helen Baxendale, Ace Bhatti, Jo Dow, Andrew Lancel, and Peter O'Brien in Cardiac Arrest (1994)
Dark ComedySatireComedyDrama

Drama set in and around a hospital, where the newly qualified Dr Andrew Collin is thrown into a world that is totally beyond him.Drama set in and around a hospital, where the newly qualified Dr Andrew Collin is thrown into a world that is totally beyond him.Drama set in and around a hospital, where the newly qualified Dr Andrew Collin is thrown into a world that is totally beyond him.

  • Creator
    • Jed Mercurio
  • Stars
    • Andrew Lancel
    • Helen Baxendale
    • Ace Bhatti
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.1/10
    263
    YOUR RATING
    • Creator
      • Jed Mercurio
    • Stars
      • Andrew Lancel
      • Helen Baxendale
      • Ace Bhatti
    • 9User reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
      • 1 win & 6 nominations total

    Episodes27

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    Andrew Lancel
    Andrew Lancel
    • Dr. Andrew Collin
    • 1994–1996
    Helen Baxendale
    Helen Baxendale
    • Dr. Claire Maitland
    • 1994–1996
    Ace Bhatti
    Ace Bhatti
    • Dr. Rajesh Rajah
    • 1994–1996
    Jo Dow
    • Dr. James Mortimer
    • 1994–1996
    Tom Watson
    Tom Watson
    • Mr. Ernest Docherty
    • 1994–1996
    Michael MacKenzie
    • Dr. Graham Turner
    • 1994–1996
    Jayne Charlton McKensie
    • SN Caroline Richards…
    • 1994–1996
    Peter O'Brien
    Peter O'Brien
    • Mr. Cyril 'Scissors' Smedley
    • 1995–1996
    Jack Fortune
    • Mr. Adrian DeVries
    • 1995–1996
    Jacquetta May
    • Sister Julie Novac…
    • 1995–1996
    Peter Biddle
    • CN Patrick Garden
    • 1995–1996
    Nicholas Palliser
    • Mr. Paul Tennant…
    • 1995–1996
    Mandy Matthews
    • SN Pam Charnley…
    • 1994–1996
    Ellen Thomas
    Ellen Thomas
    • Sister Jackie Landers…
    • 1994–1996
    Selina Cadell
    Selina Cadell
    • Dr. Sarah Hudson
    • 1996
    Andrew Clover
    • Dr. Phil Kirkby
    • 1995–1996
    Annie Treadwell
    • EN Becky Reece…
    • 1994–1995
    Angela Douglas
    Angela Douglas
    • Mrs. Isobel Trimble…
    • 1995–1996
    • Creator
      • Jed Mercurio
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews9

    8.1263
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    Featured reviews

    richardjf

    Like fine wine

    This television programme is a black comedy about the goings-on in a British public hospital. Anyone who has worked in a public hospital based on the British-style (ie Commonwealth countries) will recognise the satirical barbs in this programme. Each episode made me laugh, and at the same time say to myself, "tsk, tsk - how naughty of them to put that in".

    I'm surprised this comedy didn't last longer, or receive greater recognition. It's a bit like fine wine. If it came out on DVD I would instantly add it to my small, select collection.
    9butchjason

    Most realistic medical drama ever

    I was a newly qualified junior doctor when this came out. It is totally realistic. The life of the junior doctor, the horrendous hours and the dark humour which was the only way of coping with it all
    9pawaddington

    Very realistic, apart from the portrayal of nurses!

    I was an A&E nurse at the time this show came out and it's the most realistic hospital based drama until This Is Going To Hurt. However, with both being doctor-centric, the latter heavily downplayed the role of the midwife, whilst Cardiac Arrest was pretty cruel and wide of the mark in its portrayal of nursing staff. The doctors did carry out a lot of roles that nurses perform nowadays, but the nursing staff were not the work shy, nagging bimbos that the show tends to portray them as, particularly not in any A&E department I worked in..

    That aside, what the show captures, that other medical dramas miss, is that it is a workplace full of friendships, relationships and teamwork, just as an office or a factory is a workplace, so there's room for humour in amongst the drama. We had to have a sense of humour, otherwise we'd never have got through half the stuff we had to get through.

    I just finished rewatching the whole series today, and it was quite nostalgic for me, with it being from my time as a nurse, so I recognised all the equipment, the working practice, the terminology, etc, that a lot of young nurses today might be puzzled by, as things have moved on so much over the past 30 years. I particularly enjoyed A&E being referred to as casualty or cas, as it really irks me when I hear it called ER nowadays. And I don't think there was one character in the whole series that didn't remind me of at least one person I worked with, save the hospital administrators, who were portrayed a bit like the gestapo, suspending someone every other episode and actively looking for reasons to suspend them. Yes, in real life the admin team were probably the least loved people in the hospital, apart from the dreaded Infection Control Nurse, but they weren't pure evil, like the ones in the show.

    But it's a fab series, albeit the last episode got a bit daft, and it's a shame more series weren't made, as the central characters were all very watchable. And how could you not fall in love with Helen. Baxendale?
    DPYPER

    an outstanding hospital series

    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.
    8cathyannemoore-66196

    Good for it's time

    Only just watched this made 30 years ago as I am catching up with Jed Mercurio's writing. I was a young adult in 1994-6 and it is interesting to watch this and be reminded just how much medicine has advanced eg DNA testing for paternity rather than just blood groups. Nurses still wore dresses, capes and starched white caps and doctors wore white coats. Also the fashions and music great nostalgia. The storylines feel rushed because each episode is only about 30 minutes. And I feel disappointed because the last episode initiates several stories but leaves us with multiple cliffhangers eg unanswered questions that will never be answered. Much better hospital dramas have been made since reflecting technical advances in the film industry (eg special effects) and issues and moral dilemmas facing the medical profession of recent times. But this one was good for it's time.

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    • Trivia
      You Can't Make an Omelette Without Breaking Legs (1994) was scheduled for broadcast on 12 May 1994 but was postponed for a week as a mark of respect for the Labour Party leader John Smith who had died that morning - coincidentally of a heart attack and cardiac arrest.
    • Crazy credits
      The recurring cast list for each episode was shown as part of the opening title sequence. The closing sequence at the end of the episode listed the crew, followed by just the episode-specific cast.
    • Connections
      Featured in The South Bank Show: Jed Mercurio (2019)

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    FAQ

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • April 21, 1994 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Glasgow, Glasgow City, Scotland, UK(on location)
    • Production company
      • Island World Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo

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