| The Royal | |
|---|---|
The Royal intro. |
|
| Format | Medical drama |
| Starring | Denis Lill Wendy Craig Michelle Hardwick Robert Daws Andy Wear Linda Armstrong Amy Robbins Kari Corbett Sarah Beck Mather Glynis Barber Gareth Hale Neil McDermott Diana May Sacha Parkinson Lauren Drummond |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 87 (List of episodes) (as of 31 July 2011) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | ITV Studios |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV (ITV1/STV/UTV) |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original run | 19 January 2003 – 31 July 2011 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Heartbeat The Royal Today |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Royal is a British medical drama series produced by ITV. The show comprises one hour episodes which were normally first aired on ITV in the Sunday early evening slot.
The title of the series refers to the fictional "St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital", located in the rural seaside town of Elsinby close to Aidensfield and the actual towns of Whitby and Scarborough. The hospital served both the local farmers and townsfolk and visiting holidaymakers. The show was set in the 1960s and the outside scenes were filmed in the North Yorkshire holiday resort of Scarborough. It began as a spin-off from the other popular ITV show set in North Yorkshire, Heartbeat.
Stars of the show include Ian Carmichael, Wendy Craig, Robert Daws and Amy Robbins. The last ever episode of the show aired at 7.00pm on Sunday, 31 July 2011 on the ITV Network.
Contents |
The Royal was introduced in the 14th episode of the 12th series of Heartbeat entitled 'Out Of The Blue' and The Royal benefited from this connection to the extremely popular parent series; several Heartbeat characters appeared in the first couple of series of The Royal, most notably Bill Maynard as a bed-ridden Claude Greengrass, but as the series progressed it generally dropped its character crossovers with Heartbeat to become its own entity.
The majority of the plots centred 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 series 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.
The Royal appears to be set primarily in 1969 and includes references to events such as the coming of colour television and the Vietnam War. Like Heartbeat, all road tax discs bear the expiry date "31 DEC 69". However anachronisms sometimes appear, such as characters in the series 7 episode "To Love & To Lose" referring to "the new Beatles film" (there was no new Beatles film that year). Some such anachronisms are likely to be accidental, such as a reference in the same episode to a career "glass ceiling", a phrase not coined until some years later.
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 (even her niece Susie Dixon only refers to her as "Auntie"). All that is known is that her nickname during the Second World War, when she served as a nurse, was "Toffee".
Filming often took place at 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. Interior scenes were filmed in the former Maternity Wing of St. Luke's Hospital, Bradford and The Leeds Studios. St Luke's was chosen because it had not been updated in many years, and was very similar to how a 1960s hospital would have appeared.
| Name | Portrayed by | Occupation | Years | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '03 | '04 | '05 | '06 | '07 | '08 | '09 | '11 | ||||
| David Cheriton | Julian Ovenden | Consultant | Main | ||||||||
| Meryl Taylor | Zoie Kennedy | Senior Staff Nurse | Main | ||||||||
| Dr. Gordon Ormerod | Robert Daws | Consultant | Main | ||||||||
| Dr. Jill Weatherill | Amy Robbins | Consultant, General Surgeon | Main | ||||||||
| T.J. Middleditch | Ian Carmichael | CEO | Main | Special Guest Star | |||||||
| Sister Brigid/Aisling O'Donaghue | Linda Armstrong | Ward Sister | Main | ||||||||
| Mr. Rose | Denis Lill | Consultant, General Surgeon | Main | ||||||||
| Lizzie Hopkirk | Michelle Hardwick | Receptionist | Main | ||||||||
| Alun Morris | Andy Wear | Porter, Theatre Technician | Main | ||||||||
| Matron | Wendy Craig | Clinical Matron | Main | ||||||||
| Susie Dixon | Sarah Beck Mather | Staff Nurse | Main | ||||||||
| Jack Bell | Gareth Hale | Head Porter | Main | ||||||||
| Jean McAteer | Glynis Barber | CEO | Main | ||||||||
| Carol Selby | Diana May | Staff Nurse | Main | ||||||||
| Dr. Ralph Ellis | Neil McDermott | Locum Doctor | Main | ||||||||
| Faye Clark | Lauren Drummond | Student Nurse | Main | ||||||||
| Actor | Character | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Cavanah | Adam Carnegie | 2006 – 2009 |
| Lisa Hogg | Moira O'Donaghue | 2008 – 2009 |
| Natalie Anderson | Nurse Stella Davenport | 2005 – 2008 |
| Scott Taylor | Frankie Robinson | 2003 – 2008 |
| Michael Starke | Ken Hopkirk | 2003 – 2008 |
| Sam Callis | Dr. Mike Banner | 2007 |
| Kananu Kirimi | Dr. Joan Makori | 2006 – 2007 |
| Paul Fox | Dr. Jeff Goodwin | 2003 – 2007 |
| Amelia Curtis | Nurse Catherine Deane | 2006 – 2007 |
| Rachel Leskovac | Marie Beattie | 2007 |
| Lauren Leake-Smith | Cassie Beattie | 2007 |
| Harvey Leake-Smith | Alfie Beattie | 2007 |
| Isabella Eades-Jones | Stephanie Beattie | 2007 |
| David Busfield | Ben Beattie | 2007 |
| Sophie Foster | Katie Ormerod #1 | 2003 – 2006 |
| Daniel Feltham | Tom Ormerod #1 | 2003 – 2006 |
| Helena Blair | Angela Deane | 2006 |
| Anna Madeley | Nurse Samantha Beaumont | 2003 – 2005 |
| John Axon | Mr Nigel Harper | 2003 – 2005 |
| Polly Maberly | Dr. Lucy Klein | 2003 – 2004 |
| Damian O'Hare | Dr. Nick Burnett | 2008 – 2009 |
| Kari Corbett | Nurse Marian McKaig | 2007 – 2009 |
| Chris Coghill | Bobby Sheridan | 2008 – 2009 |
| Matthew Hall (actor) | Sam Myerson | 2009 – 2009 |
| Series | Year | Rank # | Average Audience Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2003 | 10th | 10.12 m |
| 2 | 2003 | 11th | 7.16 m |
| 3 | 2003–2004 | 13th | 9.17 m |
| 4 | 2004–2005 | 12th | 8.49 m |
| 5 | 2006 | 10th | 7.93 m |
| 6 | 2007 | 11th | 7.24 m |
| 7 | 2008–2009 | 15th | 4.91 m |
| 8 | 2009–2011 | 15th | 4.48 m |
| Overall Rating 2003 - 2011 | Rank # | Average Audience Share |
|---|---|---|
| 12th | 7.43 m |
The production of both Heartbeat and The Royal has been completed.[1] It was announced on 4 March 2009 because of job losses for ITV Yorkshire Studios, that the future of The Royal and Heartbeat was in doubt.[2] ITV have now confirmed production of The Royal has ended. ITV1 showed the very final episode on 31 July 2011. As a result of the show's final episode ending on a cliffhanger never to be resolved, several petitions have been started online, as well as people emailing and tweeting ITV, in hope that they will bring back the programme in the future.
Episode 73 entitled "In The Air" was the first episode of The Royal to be shown in HD format. The episode was transmitted on ITV HD on 21 June 2009. Subsequent episodes are expected to be shown in high definition on ITV HD as well as being shown in standard definition.
A daytime spin-off, The Royal Today, comprising fifty thirty-minute episodes featuring the staff of The Royal set in the present day aired in January 2008.
This is a list of media releases of the television series Heartbeat, which includes DVD & VHS.
DVDs of the series have been released by ITV Studios Home Entertainment. See table below for release dates. So far, the First series of The Royal has been released. Some music has been partly changed or removed due to copyright grounds.
| DVD series | Ep # | Region 2 (UK) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Royal series 1 | 7 | 3 October 2011 [3] | |
| The Royal series 2 | 6 | 27 February 2012 [4] | |
| The Royal series 3 | 14 | TBA | |
| The Royal series 4 | 12 | TBA | |
| The Royal series 5 | 12 | TBA | |
| The Royal series 6 | 12 | TBA | |
| The Royal series 7 | 12 | TBA | |
| The Royal series 8 | 12 | TBA |