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.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 win & 6 nominations total
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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.
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.
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
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?
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?
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.
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.
Did you know
- TriviaYou 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 creditsThe 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.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The South Bank Show: Jed Mercurio (2019)
- How many seasons does Cardiac Arrest have?Powered by Alexa
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