''The Royal'' is a British period
medical drama
A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...
, produced by
Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
(later part of
ITV Studios
ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadca ...
), and broadcast on
ITV1
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the
1960s and focuses on the lives of the staff at the fictional "St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital", an
National Health Service hospital serving the fictional rural seaside town of Elsinby and its surrounding area. The programme began originally as a spin-off of ITV's
period drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...
series ''
Heartbeat'' and the first three series featured crossovers with ''Heartbeat'' and appearances by its cast members. From the start of the fourth series, the crossover elements were removed, and ''The Royal'' focussed on stories involving its own cast.
The series initially began with its cast including
Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ' ...
,
Wendy Craig
Anne Gwendolyn "Wendy" Craig (born 20 June 1934) is an English actress who is best known for her appearances in the sitcoms ''Not in Front of the Children (TV series), Not in Front of the Children'', ''...And Mother Makes Three'', ''...And M ...
,
Robert Daws
Robert Daws (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor, and crime fiction author. He is best known for his television roles, including Tuppy Glossop in ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1990-93), gruff cricketer Roger Dervish in the comedy '' Outside Edge'' ...
and
Amy Robbins
Amy Louise Robbins (born 18 February 1971) is an English stage, film and TV actress best known for her role as Dr. Jill Weatherill in the British television series ''The Royal''. Before her role in ''The Royal'' she played Police Sergeant Rachel ...
, but gradually expanded with new actors taking the place of others as they left the programme; some taking over to only appear in one series. Much of the outdoor scenes were primarily shot within
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
, including within
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
and
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, with interior shots filmed at both
The Leeds Studios
The Leeds Studios (also known as the ITV Television Centre, Yorkshire Television Studios or YTV Studios) is a television production complex on Kirkstall Road in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. ITV plc had proposed to close the studios in 20 ...
and
St Luke's Hospital, Bradford. The programme remained popular on television until its cancellation, generating its own spin-off, ''
The Royal Today
''The Royal Today'' is a British medical soap opera, and a spin-off of the similarly themed drama, ''The Royal
''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast o ...
'', with episodes later repeated on
ITV3.
Premise
''The Royal'' takes place within the fictional seaside town of Elsinby in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and focuses on the lives of the staff who work in St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital - a
cottage hospital A cottage hospital is a semi-obsolete type of small hospital, most commonly found in the United Kingdom.
The original concept was a small rural building having several beds.The Cottage Hospitals 1859–1990, Dr. Meyrick Emrys-Roberts, Tern Publicati ...
established by the ancestor of its hospital secretary, T.J. Middleditch, to serve its local community. Placed under the care of the National Health Service, the staff do their best to offer their patients with considerable care and treatment, including maintaining casualty facilities and
operating theatres, while coping with their own lives. Like ''Heartbeat'', episodes mainly focused on either one big story or two major storylines, medical problems, and an occasional side story, with overarching plotlines concerning the relationships and personal lives of the main characters. For the first three series, episodes featured crossovers with ''Heartbeat'' through some of its cast making appearances in plots as their respective, the most prominent of these being
Bill Maynard
Walter Frederick George Williams (8 October 1928 – 30 March 2018), better known by his stage name Bill Maynard, was an English comedian and actor. He began working in television in the 1950s, notably starring alongside Terry Scott in '' G ...
,
William Simons
Clifford William Cumberbatch Simons (17 November 1940 – 21 June 2019) was a Welsh-born actor best known for his role as PC Alf Ventress in '' Heartbeat'', a role he played for 18 years, from 1992 to 2010.
Early life
Simons was born on 17 Novem ...
and
Mark Jordon
Mark Jordon (born 25 January 1965) is an English actor, best known for playing PC Phil Bellamy in the British television series '' Heartbeat'', which he left in 2007. A documentary, ''Heartbeat - Farewell Phil'' was broadcast later on Christmas ...
, but this element of the programme was later dropped.
The majority of the
plots centred on medical emergencies or serious medical cases, and often featured moral dilemmas. ''The Royal'' largely avoided political topics, though the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
was briefly the subject of one episode, and its main themes were the conflict between progressive and conservative social ideals, and the ethical challenges and social changes faced by the hospital's staff, reflecting the setting in the 1960s. Like ''Heartbeat'', the show had a number of
anachronism
An anachronism (from the Ancient Greek, Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronology, chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time per ...
s, such as the use of the expression "the
glass ceiling
A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to women, used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy.Federal Glass Ceiling Commission''Solid Investments: Making Full ...
"
Filming
Filming of the interior scenes of "St. Aidan's" used both
The Leeds Studios
The Leeds Studios (also known as the ITV Television Centre, Yorkshire Television Studios or YTV Studios) is a television production complex on Kirkstall Road in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. ITV plc had proposed to close the studios in 20 ...
and
St Luke's Hospital, Bradford. Most of the exterior scenes were shot during the summer months at the Red Court building on Holbeck Road, South Cliff,
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, as well as the nearby park area and Holbeck Clock Tower.
The remaining exterior scenes were filmed elsewhere in the
North Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres).
From the Restoration it was used as ...
, including
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
.
Cast and characters
Main cast and characters
*
Julian Ovenden
Julian Mark Ovenden (born 29 November 1976) is an English actor and singer. He has starred on Broadway and West End stages, in television series in both the United Kingdom and United States, in films, and performed internationally as a concert ...
as Dr David Cheriton (series 1–3), a
general practitioner (GP) and the series' original protagonist.
*
Zoie Kennedy as Meryl Taylor (series 1–5), a senior staff nurse and Cheriton's primary love interest.
*
Robert Daws
Robert Daws (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor, and crime fiction author. He is best known for his television roles, including Tuppy Glossop in ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1990-93), gruff cricketer Roger Dervish in the comedy '' Outside Edge'' ...
as Dr Gordon Ormerod (series 1–8), a GP and
anaesthetist
Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine ...
who in series 4 married Dr Jill Weatherill (played by Daws' real-life wife). Their only biological child together, Jonathan, a baby on the show, became a lead doctor at the hospital as an adult, as featured in ''
The Royal Today
''The Royal Today'' is a British medical soap opera, and a spin-off of the similarly themed drama, ''The Royal
''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast o ...
''
*
Amy Robbins
Amy Louise Robbins (born 18 February 1971) is an English stage, film and TV actress best known for her role as Dr. Jill Weatherill in the British television series ''The Royal''. Before her role in ''The Royal'' she played Police Sergeant Rachel ...
as Dr Jill Weatherill (series 1–8), a GP and a staunch promoter of
maternal medicine, who in series 4 married Dr Gordon Ormerod (played by Robbins' real-life husband).
*
Linda Armstrong as Sister Brigid (series 1–8), a nursing administrator, ward sister and nun (''née'' Aisling Donahue) who lives in a convent.
*
Francis Matthews as Dr James "Jim" Alway (series 1), Dr Cheriton's predecessor, seen only briefly.
*
Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ' ...
as T.J. Middleditch (series 1–5, recurring thereafter), Hospital Secretary and Chairman of the Middleditch Trust, which helps to fund the hospital.
*
Wendy Craig
Anne Gwendolyn "Wendy" Craig (born 20 June 1934) is an English actress who is best known for her appearances in the sitcoms ''Not in Front of the Children (TV series), Not in Front of the Children'', ''...And Mother Makes Three'', ''...And M ...
as Matron (series 1–8), nursing administrator, nicknamed "Toffee" ever since airmen at the
Royal Air Force Station
The Royal Air Force (RAF) operates several stations throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. This includes front-line and training air bases, support, administrative and training stations with no flying activity, unmanned airfields used fo ...
she served at as a nurse during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
decided that she was "toffee-nosed" (snobbish/stuck up).
*
John Axon
John Axon GC (4 December 1900 – 9 February 1957) was an English train driver from Stockport (Edgeley Depot) who died while trying to stop a runaway freight train on a 1 in 58 gradient at Chapel-en-le-Frith in Derbyshire after a brake fail ...
as Nigel Harper (series 1–4), unpopular administrator for the
district health authority
A district health authority was an administrative territorial entity of the National Health Service in England and Wales introduced by the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973.
District health authorities existed in Britain from 1974 t ...
.
*
Michelle Hardwick
Michelle Hardwick (also known as Michelle Brooks, born 26 February 1976) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as hospital receptionist Lizzie Hopkirk in the ITV drama series ''The Royal'' and Vanessa Woodfield in the ITV soap opera ...
as Lizzie Hopkirk (series 1–8), receptionist and daughter of the
hospital porter Hospital porters are employed to move patients between wards and departments and to move goods and vital supplies including medical equipment, linen, blood, and samples. This is generally not regarded as skilled work, it attracts little attention a ...
Ken Hopkirk; she was married when the series started, but her husband left her for another woman.
*
Denis Lill
Denis Lill (born 22 April 1942) is a New Zealand-born British actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Survivors'' as Charles Vaughan, ''Only Fools and Horses'' as Alan Parry, ''Outside Edge'' as Dennis Broadley and as Consultant General Sur ...
as Mr Rose (series 1–8), a consultant
general surgeon
General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid g ...
often assigned to St Aidan's.
* Andy Wear as Alun Morris (series 1–8), a porter and theatre technician.
*
Michael Starke as Ken Hopkirk (series 1–7), St Aidan's head porter and father of Lizzie Hopkirk.
*
Polly Maberly as Dr Lucy Klein (series 2–3), a consultant psychologist and a
foil
Foil may refer to:
Materials
* Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine
* Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal
* Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food
* Tin foil, metal foil ...
for Cheriton.
*
Anna Madeley
Anna Madeley (born 1 October 1976) is an English actress. She performed for three seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has appeared in three off-West End productions. She has starred in productions on each of the main British televisi ...
as Samantha Beaumont (series 3–4), a student nurse.
*
Paul Fox as Dr Jeff Goodwin (series 3–6), a GP and later, Makori's primary love interest.
*
Scott Taylor as Frankie Robinson (series 4–7), an ambulance driver.
*
Natalie Anderson
Natalie Jane Anderson (born on 24 October 1981) is an English actress, singer and television presenter. She is known for her roles as Stella Davenport in the medical drama ''The Royal'' from 2005 to 2008 and Alicia Metcalfe in the ITV soap o ...
as Stella Davenport (series 4–7), a senior staff nurse and Frankie's longtime love interest.
*
Amelia Curtis as Catherine Deane (series 5–6), a senior staff nurse.
*
Kananu Kirimi as Dr Joan Makori (series 5–6), a GP and a member of
Doctors Without Borders
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
.
*
Robert Cavanah
Robert Cavanah is a Scottish stage and film actor, writer, director and producer.
Biography
Robert Cavanah was born in Edinburgh. He attended James Gillespie's High School in Edinburgh followed by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dra ...
as Adam Carnegie (series 5–7), hospital secretary.
*
Sam Callis
Samuel Charles Callis (born 21 November 1973 in Ely, Cambridgeshire) is an English actor and director, best known for his role as Callum Stone in ''The Bill'' and Adam Benjamin in '' London's Burning''.
Biography
Callis grew up in Haslemere, Sur ...
as Dr Mike Banner (series 6), a GP, anaesthetist, and sought-after
locum
A locum, or locum tenens, is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another; the term is especially used for physicians or clergy. For example, a ''locum tenens physician'' is a physician who works in the place of the regular physician. ...
physician.
*
Kari Corbett
Kari Corbett (born 16 February 1984) is a Scottish actress, artist and filmmaker. Corbett is perhaps best known for portraying Ruby Hepburn in the Channel 4 comedy drama '' Shameless'', Nurse Marian McKaig in ITV's ''The Royal'', Sarah in the ...
as Marian McKaig (series 6–7), a staff nurse.
* Sarah Beck Mather as Susie Dixon (series 6–8), a student nurse.
*
Damian O'Hare
Damian O'Hare (born 13 August 1977) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Gillette in '' Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' and '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''.
Filmography
Film
...
as Dr Nick Burnett (series 7), a GP recruited by Jill following the departures of Goodwin and Makori.
*
Chris Coghill
Christopher Coghill (born 11 April 1975http://web.researcha.com/iccquery/detail/?did=816979&c=uk) is an English actor, having had roles in '' Shameless'', '' Burn It'', '' Hotel Babylon'', ''The Bill'', ''New Tricks'', '' Doctors'', ''Holby City ...
as Bobby Sheridan (series 7), an ambulance driver.
*
Gareth Hale
Gareth Irvin Hale is an English comedian and actor, who is best known as one half of the comedy duo Hale and Pace, with his friend and comic partner Norman Pace.
Biography
Hale and his comedy partners were both former teachers, their come ...
as Jack Bell (series 7–8), head porter of St Aidan's.
*
Neil McDermott
Neil McDermott (born 15 December 1980) is a British stage and television actor, who is best known for portraying Ryan Malloy in the BBC television soap opera ''EastEnders''.
Career
McDermott appeared in the 2008 ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Nex ...
as Dr Ralph Ellis (series 8), a locum GP noted for his forward-thinking approach to medicine.
*
Glynis Barber
Glynis Barber (born Glynis van der Riet; 25 October 1955) is a South African actress. She is known for her portrayals of Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in the British police drama '' Dempsey and Makepeace'', Glenda Mitchell in ''EastEnders'', DCI Grac ...
as Jean McAteer (series 8), hospital secretary.
*
Lauren Drummond
Lauren Emma Drummond (born 23 December 1987) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Mika Grainger in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' (2006–2008) and Chantelle Lane in the BBC One medical drama series ...
as Faye Clark (series 8), a student nurse.
* Diana May as Carol Selby (series 8), a staff nurse.
Episode list
Ratings
Below is the list of ratings of ''The Royal'', giving an overall result for each series.
''The Royal Today''
In 2007, ITV commissioned a daytime spin-off of ''The Royal'', entitled ''
The Royal Today
''The Royal Today'' is a British medical soap opera, and a spin-off of the similarly themed drama, ''The Royal
''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast o ...
''. The spin-off focused on the same settings of the main show, but set in the present day with a new cast of characters. The show ran for one series in 2008 between 7 January to 14 March. The show was axed due to low ratings.
End of production
Speculation surrounding the future of both ''Heartbeat'' and ''The Royal'' began in 2009, when
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
announced on 4 March that a loss of £2.7 billion was forcing it to make cutbacks in employment numbers, the biggest of which were made at ITV Yorkshire Studios. Many raised concerns that the shows were to be axed, after reports were made to that effect in early January, though a spokesperson stated later that the production of the shows was simply "resting". No official news was given that the show was axed, but like ''Heartbeat'', the series ended with a cliffhanger surrounding one of its main characters, when the final episode was aired on 31 July 2011.
[https://lifeofwylie.com/2011/08/02/the-royal-goodbye/ The Royal: Goodbye Mr Rose 2 August 2011]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, The
2000s British drama television series
2003 British television series debuts
2010s British drama television series
2011 British television series endings
2000s British medical television series
2010s British medical television series
ITV television dramas
Period television series
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Television series by ITV Studios
Television series by Yorkshire Television
English-language television shows
Television series set in the 1960s
Television shows set in Yorkshire
Heartbeat (British TV series)