''RPA'' is an Australian
television documentary
Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries.
Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film.
*Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...
show that was filmed at
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...
and showed the everyday workings of this major hospital in Sydney, Australia. Premiering in 1995, the programme is based on the British series ''
Jimmy's'' which was filmed at
St James's University Hospital
St James's University Hospital ''Confirming name as "St James's"'' is in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and is popularly known as Jimmy's. It is one of the United Kingdom's most famous hospitals due to its coverage on television. It is managed ...
in Leeds.
Format
For the majority of its thirteen-year run, each episode of RPA would run for half an hour. However, its initial 2007 run was broadcast in combined hour-long episodes, and its return later in the year saw it assume a permanent one-hour timeslot.
[Nine stretches out a good thing]
Operations would be recorded on camera in a graphic nature and the doctors would provide commentary as they operate on patients.
A new ''RPA: Where Are They Now'' series, begun in 2007, ran for half an hour. It profiled the lives of patients who have previously appeared on ''RPA'', recapping the original stories and showing follow-ups on the patients' lives or deaths following their initial appearance on the programme. Both series have been narrated by
Max Cullen
Max Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film ''Spider and Rose'' and the television series ''The Flying Doctors ...
.
A brand-new series of the medical/observational series aired on the
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
in October 2008. Max Cullen continued to narrate. The program returned in February 2009 for another brand new series.
In 2012, the series returned to Nine on Wednesday, 30 May, at 9.30pm, with Australian actor and artist, Max Cullen again narrating. This series was also the last of this franchise and its final episode was broadcast on 18 July.
Awards
''RPA'' has been nominated for an award at the annual TV Week
Logie Awards
The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...
in every year since 2000 (eight times in succession); from 2000–2006, it was nominated in the Most Popular Reality Program category, while in 2007 it was nominated in the Most Outstanding Factual Series category. It won silver Logies at the 2000 and 2003 Logie Awards.
[TV Week Logie Awards 2000]
[TV Week Logie Awards 2003]
Legacy
In 2019, ''
TV Week
''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news.
Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...
'' listed ''RPA'' at No. 100 in its list of the 101 greatest Australian television shows of all time, which appeared in its monthly ''
TV Week Close Up'' publication.
[Burfitt, John; Cullen, Tamara; Hadley, Amy; Hockey, Maddison; Mitchell, Thomas; Recchi, Karina; Vnuk, Helen; Wang, Cynthia; Zubeidi, Zara (July 2019), 101 Greatest Aussie TV Shows of All Time, '' TV Week Close Up'', ]Bauer Media Group
Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german: Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG), trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 ra ...
. Accessed 6 August 2019 The magazine said it recognised the program's sensitivity when showing emotional scenes, but it also celebrated victories of patients and medical teams.
[
]
Other stories
A feature of ''RPA'' is its storyline nature, in that it has a strong emphasis on following the stories of patients throughout the series. Examples include Kenyan burns victim Safari
A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...
, who appeared in every episode of the 2001 series and in an episode of ''RPA: Where Are They Now''.
Chris O'Brien, a head and neck surgeon
In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
, appeared since the start of the show but retired after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour in November, 2006. He recovered from his operation and his story was told on 60 Minutes.[Never say die, Chris O' Briens Story]
A statement from Lifehouse at RPA on Thursday 4 June 2009 said the surgeon was nearing the end of his two-and-a-half-year battle with the disease, and he was admitted to hospital on Wednesday 3 June. "Professor Chris O'Brien was last night admitted to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital after suffering a significant deterioration in his condition," Lifehouse said.
/ref> He died on 4 June 2009, with the following episode of RPA dedicated to Professor O'Brien's work at the hospital and on the show throughout the years.
See also
*'' Kings Cross ER: St Vincent's Hospital''
*''Young Doctors
''Young Doctors'' is an Australian factual television show that looks at the work of junior doctors at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, New South Wales. This eight-part observational documentary series began on the Nine Network on 26 Octobe ...
''
*''Medical Emergency
A medical emergency is an acute injury or illness that poses an immediate risk to a person's life or long-term health, sometimes referred to as a situation risking "life or limb". These emergencies may require assistance from another, qualified p ...
''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rpa (Tv Series)
Australian factual television series
Nine Network original programming
1995 Australian television series debuts
2000s Australian television series
2012 Australian television series endings
English-language television shows
Television shows set in Sydney
Television shows set in Leeds
Australian medical television series