''The Royal Today'' is a British medical

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, 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 on ITV1 from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the ...

''. The concept is that whilst ''The Royal'' is set in the late 1960s, ''The Royal Today'' featured the same hospital in the present day, with a new set of characters working in the same location. Each episode followed the events of a single day, and the show was broadcast daily (except for the weekends), so the series could be said to progress in real time. The first series of 50 half-hour episodes began on 7 January 2008 on the ITV network airing from 4 pm-4.30 pm. Although there were a number of running storylines, the series generally eschewed the use of

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

s. The series was axed in March 2008 after poor ratings, on an average of 1.175 million viewers.

Cast and characters

Setting

There are two separate blocks at St. Luke's in Bradford used for shooting ''The Royal'' and ''The Royal Today''. One of the previously unused blocks has undergone a makeover to transform it into a modern hospital, this also includes a bar area (seen in episode one) having been built. Exterior shots are filmed around North Yorkshire, particularly

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 ...

. The last day of shooting the series was Friday 16 November 2007. Named wards include:

Episode list

References

External links

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Show information and cast interviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Today, The 2000s British television soap operas 2008 British television series debuts 2008 British television series endings 2000s British medical television series ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Yorkshire Television Television shows set in Yorkshire British television spin-offs