''Dr. Death'' is an American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

television series created by Patrick Macmanus, based on the podcast of the same name, focusing on the titular

Christopher Duntsch Christopher Daniel Duntsch (born April 3, 1971) is a former American neurosurgery, neurosurgeon who has been nicknamed Dr. D. and Dr. Death for gross medical malpractice, malpractice resulting in the mutilation, maiming of several patients' spin ...

, a

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

who became infamous for permanently mutilating his patients, killing two of them. It premiered on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

on July 15, 2021. In July 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.

Premise

An arrogant, sinister doctor treats his

Hippocratic Oath The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by a number of healing gods, to uphold specific e ...

about the same way he treats his patients. As his

malignant narcissism Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial behavior, aggression, and sadism. Grandiose, and always ready to raise hostility levels, the malignant narcissist undermines families and organi ...

and psychopathy escalate, his fellow surgeons and a young assistant district attorney set out to stop him.

Cast

Season 1

Main

Joshua Jackson Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. He is known for his starring role as Charlie Conway in '' Mighty Ducks'', as Pacey Witter in The WB teen drama series ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the ...

Grace Gummer Grace Jane Gummer (born May 9, 1986) is an American actress. She received a Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of '' Arcadia''. Her television work includes recurring roles in '' The Newsroom'' and '' American Horror ...

as Kim Morgan *

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...

as Randall Kirby *

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...

as Robert Henderson *

AnnaSophia Robb AnnaSophia Robb (born December 8, 1993) is an American actress, model, and singer. She began as a child actress on television, making her leading debut as the titular role in '' Samantha: An American Girl Holiday'' (2004). She made her feature ...

as Michelle Shughart

Recurring

* Fred Lehne as Don Duntsch * Hubert Point-Du Jour as Josh Baker *

Maryann Plunkett Maryann Plunkett (born c. 1953) is an American actress and singer. Plunkett has performed on the stage both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has appeared in the entire play cycle of Richard Nelson's ''Apple Family Plays''. In 1987, she won the T ...

as Madeline Beyer *

Grainger Hines Grainger Hines (born August 18, 1948)Adams Sloan, Robin (1981)The Gossip Column, ''Lewiston Morning Tribune'', October 6, 1981, p. 12E. Retrieved November 18, 2013 is an American actor, writer, producer, and director. Career He has appeared i ...

as Earl Burke *

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom '' Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...

as Dr. Geoffrey Skadden *

Dominic Burgess Dominic Burgess (born 29 July 1982) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in several television adverts and series such as '' Raising Hope'', ''Doctor Who'', ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', and '' Feud: Bette and Joan''. E ...

as Jerry Summers * Molly Griggs as Wendy Young *

Laila Robins Laila Robins is an American stage, film and television actress. She has appeared in films including ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' (1987), ''An Innocent Man'' (1989), ''Live Nude Girls'' (1995), ''True Crime'' (1999), ''She's Lost Control'' ( ...

as Amy Piel *

Dashiell Eaves Dashiell Eaves is an American actor. He lives in New York City. Theater Eaves began his professional career in 1993 at age nineteen when he joined the original American cast of the Off-Broadway percussion show ''Stomp''. Three years later he ...

as Stan Novak * Jennifer Kim as Stephanie Wu * Kelly Kirklyn as Dorothy Burke * Marceline Hugot as Rose Keller

Guest stars

Carrie Preston Carrie Preston (born June 21, 1967) is an American actress known for her work on the television series ''True Blood'', ''Person of Interest'', ''Crowded'', ''The Good Wife'', ''The Good Fight'', and ''Claws''. Preston received critical acclaim ...

as Robbie McClung

Season 2

Main

Édgar Ramírez Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano (, born 25 March 1977) is a Venezuelan actor. Ramírez studied communications at the Andrés Bello Catholic University. He then worked in media and considered becoming a diplomat. When Guillermo Arriaga prai ...

Paolo Macchiarini Paolo Macchiarini (born 22 August 1958) is a Swiss-born Italian thoracic surgeon and former regenerative medicine researcher who became known for research fraud and manipulative behavior. He has been convicted of research-related crimes in Ita ...

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...

as Benita Alexander

Recurring

Rita Volk Margarita Volkovinskaya (russian: Маргарита Волковинская, born September 3, 1990), known professionally as Rita Volk, is an Uzbekistani–American actress. She is known for her role as Amy Raudenfeld in the MTV romantic com ...

Judy Reyes Judy Reyes (born November 5, 1967) is an American actress, model and producer, best known for her roles as Carla Espinosa on the NBC/ABC medical comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009), and as Zoila Diaz in the Lifetime comedy-drama ''Devious M ...

Jack Davenport Jack Arthur Davenport (born 1 March 1973) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''This Life'' and ''Coupling'', and as James Norrington in the '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. He has also appeared ...

* Annika Boras * Sandra Andreis

Episodes

Production

Development

On October 3, 2018,

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...

announced that Patrick Macmanus would adapt the '' Dr. Death'' podcast into a limited series and produce with Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch executive produce via Escape Artists, as well as Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy. On September 17, 2019, NBCUniversal announced that the series would be distributed on its streaming service

. In January 2020, it was announced

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

would direct the first two episodes. In September 2020, Frears was replaced by

Maggie Kiley Maggie Kiley is an American filmmaker and actress. Career Kiley most recently directed her second feature, '' Dial a Prayer'', from a script she wrote. The film stars Brittany Snow, William H Macy and Glenne Headly and was acquired by Vertica ...

. On July 14, 2022, Peacock renewed the series for a second season with Ashley Michel Hoban promoted from a producer to an executive producer and new showrunner. The second season will focus on

. On October 18, 2022, it was announced that

Jennifer Morrison Jennifer Marie Morrison is an American actress, director, producer, and former child model. She is mainly known for her roles as Dr. Allison Cameron in the medical-drama series ''House'' (2004–2012) and Emma Swan in the ABC adventure-fantasy s ...

is set to direct episodes 1–4 and Laura Belsey is set to direct episodes 5–8 of the second season.

Casting

On August 9, 2019,

Jamie Dornan James Peter Maxwell Dornan (; born 1 May 1982) is an actor, model and musician from Northern Ireland. Formerly a character actor, he often portrays solemn, steady characters. The recipient of two Irish Film and Television Awards, he has been n ...

, and

were cast as Dr. Christopher Duntsch, Robert Henderson, and Randall Kirby, respectively. In March 2020,

, Molly Griggs,

and Chris Sullivan joined the cast of the series. On October 12, 2020,

and

joined the cast of the series, replacing Dornan and Sullivan respectively. Later in the same month, Hubert Point-Du Jour and

were cast in undisclosed capacities and character name roles. On February 12, 2021,

joined the cast. In November 2022,

was cast as

and

was cast as Benita Alexander for the second season. On January 23, 2023,

, Annika Boras, and Sandra Andreis joined the cast in recurring capacities for the second season.

Release

On May 17, 2021, alongside the release of an official trailer, it was announced that the series is scheduled to premiere in the summer of 2021. The series premiered on July 15, 2021, with an eight-episode release. In Canada, the show debuted on

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

on September 12, 2021. The series had its linear premiere on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

on October 5, 2022.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported a 92% approval rating with an average score of 7.4/10 based on 25 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though it keeps viewers in the waiting room a little too long, ''Dr. Death'' remains a horrifying tale of medical malpractice centered around Joshua Jackson's sufficiently unsettling performance."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Kristen Baldwin of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' gave the series an A- and wrote a review saying, "The what and the how are harrowing enough. ''Dr. Death'' succeeds by focusing on the people who fought for years to make sure Christopher Duntsch could do no more harm."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Death (2021 TV series) 2020s American medical television series 2020s American crime drama television series 2021 American television series debuts English-language television shows Peacock (streaming service) original programming Television series by Universal Content Productions Television shows based on podcasts