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The Royal is a British medical drama. The serial television show features one hour episodes aired by ITV. The title refers to the fictional "St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital", which is located in the rural seaside town of Elsinby close to Whitby, Scarborough and Aidensfield. The town serves both the local farmers and townsfolk and visiting holidaymakers. The show is set in the 1960s and is filmed in the North Yorkshire holiday resort of Scarborough. It is a spin-off show from the popular ITV show Heartbeat. Current stars include Wendy Craig, and Amy Robbins.
A daytime spin-off, The Royal Today, set in the present day is also airing.
An excellent and comprehensive booklet by Edward Black on the history of "The Royal", Red Court - the famous house where the series is centred - Mr Alfred Shuttleworth its remarkable owner and the story of Scarborough over 2000 years is available from Scarborough Library, the tourist information centres and the ice cream van next to the famous clock tower.
[edit] Overview
The Royal was introduced in the 12th series Heartbeat episode 'Out Of The Blue'. Several Heartbeat characters appeared in the first couple of series of The Royal, most notably Bill Maynard as a bed-ridden Claude Greengrass. However, as the series has progressed, it has generally dropped its character crossovers with Heartbeat to become its own entity.
The majority of the plots centre around medical emergencies and the moral dilemmas created or exposed by the emergencies. Typically there are several on-going crises, each being confronted by one or more staff members. The show tends to avoid political topics on the whole although the Vietnam War was touched upon in one episode, the conflict between progressive and conservative social ideals is central to the show and these issues were addressed in greater detail in season 5 following the arrival of the black woman Doctor Joan Makori, who joined The Royal in episode 49. She later departed for Cameroon in episode 55 with Nkeshi the Biafran refugee. The ethical challenges and social changes faced by the hospital staff and their patients mirror those faced by the world in the 1960s.
There is one on-going and as yet unsolved mystery in The Royal: Matron's real name. She has never used a name throughout the series, nor has she ever been referred to by one. All that is known is that her nickname during the Second World War, when she served as a nurse, was "Toffee".
Filming often takes place on Scarborough South Cliff by Holbeck Clock Tower during the summer months. Many of the old cars used in the filming can be seen residing at the Motor Museum at Thornton-le-Dale just outside Scarborough.
Series 7 is currently in post production, this includes a train crash in episode 1 and a car crash in episode 2 and a building collapse in episode 6 with two of the regular characters trapped inside for the mid series cliffhanger. The building collapse and subsequent explosion scenes were filmed at Scarborough's former South Bay Pool, between 28th and 31st August 2007.
The Royal series 7 is touted to return to tv screens in June, it was before to come back in March right after the finale of The Royal Today (14th March 2008) but instead is replaced with the return of Heartbeat to continue its 17th series with the remaining 3 episodes, however it they'd taken a break which the last episode (Episode 12: Heart of a Man) finished on April 6th as Foyle's War returned to show 2 episodes in its 6th series which started 13th April 2008.
12 new episodes have been announced on the ITV The Royal website, this is to be for the 8th season of The Royal due to be shown on ITV screens in 2009. Two special episodes are to be based in Ireland.
[edit] Trivia
- The telephone number for The Royal back in the late 60's was Elsinby 3323, and there was no Tuesday Evening Surgery.
- The code to the safe in Mr. Middleditch's office (which is now under the command of Adam Carnegie) is 1886, which is the same year The Royal was founded.
- Episode 05.09 in the Series 5 Presspack is clearly titled "Winners & Losers". However, in the opening credits, the episode title that appears on screen is "Winners & Loser".
- An illustrated booklet by Dr Edward Black giving a full history of "The Royal", Red Court, its owner Alfred Shuttleworth, and a history of Scarborough is available from the Clock Cafe, Scarborough Information Centres, Scarborough Library, Stephen Joseph Theatre - and the ice cream man outside Redcourt @ £4.
- The interior scenes are filmed at St Luke's Hospital Bradford, in the now disused Maternity Wing. It was chosen because it had not been updated in many years, and was very similar to how a 1960s hospital would have appeared.
- St Luke's Hospital Bradford was the Bradford Workhouse, and was a military hospital during and after WW1.
- The second half of Series 6 starting with 06.07 Starting Over aired on DR1 in Denmark before it was broadcast in the UK, even though the UK produces the series.
[edit] Current cast
[edit] Extras
| Actor |
Character |
Years in Show |
| Tara Berwin |
Katie Ormerod #2 |
Series 6 |
| Thomas Fox |
Tom Ormerod #2 |
Series 6 |
| Joseph Lamb |
Jonathan Ormerod |
Series 6 |
| Amy Walker |
Walking Wounded |
Series 7 |
| Rachel Horner |
Walking Wounded |
Series 7 |
[edit] Departing cast
[edit] Previous cast members
- Amelia Curtis - Nurse Catherine Deane (2006-2007 )
- Ian Carmichael - Hospital Secretary T.J. Middleditch (2003 – 2006, 2007)
- Julian Ovenden - Dr. David Cheriton (2003)
- Anna Madeley - Nurse Samantha Beaumont
- Polly Maberly - Dr. Lucy Klein
- Zoie Kennedy - Staff Nurse Meryl Taylor (2003 – 2006)
- Kananu Kirimi - Dr. Joan Makori (2006 – 2007)
- Paul Fox - Dr Jeff Goodwin
- Sophie Foster - Katie Ormerod #1 (2003 – 2006) (Series 1 – 5) - Daughter of Dr Gordon Ormerod and late wife Caroline
- Daniel Feltham - Tom Ormerod #1 (2003 – 2006) (Series 1 – 5) - Son of Dr Gordon Ormerod and late wife Caroline
- Rachel Leskovac - Marie Beattie
- Lauren Leake-Smith - Cassie Beattie
- Harvey Leake-Smith - Alfie Beattie
- Isabella Eades-Jones - Stephanie Beattie
- David Busfield - Ben Beattie
- Helena Blair - Angela Deane
[edit] Series one to eight (2003-2009)
[edit] External links
