Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac Arrest

1994
Cardiac Arrest
Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac Arrest

8.1 | en | Drama

This series shows the workings of an English hospital through the eyes of its junior doctors. Naive and idealistic Dr Andrew Collins (Andrew Lancel), soon realises he still has much to learn. His boss, Dr Claire Maitland (Helen Baxendale) on the other hand, has seen it all. She is a competent doctor, with a cynical view, and is ready to work the system when needed, but she and Collins work well together as she guides him through the many minefields of working in the NHS.

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Seasons & Episodes

3
2
1
EP13  Death Us Do Part
Jun. 25,1996
Death Us Do Part

A suspicious looking doctor starts doing the rounds at the hospital. The staff hold a surprise party for Mr. Docherty who is getting married the next day. Caroline is shown to be violently vomiting, and later she tells Andrew that she is pregnant. Raj's father is being treated for a heart attack. Dr. Mortimer is diagnosed with pneumonia. Smedley gets back together with Claire. In the final scenes, Dr. Collin visits Liz Reid, who has previously suffered a mental breakdown. Andrew answers the door to what he thinks is a diabetic patient requiring advice, however the patient suddenly stabs Dr. Collin with a needle containing insulin. Raj realises who the man is, and arrives shortly after to bring the maniac under control. In the meantime Maitland, Smedley, Mortimer and Raj attempt to treat Dr. Collin, whose life is clearly in great danger.

EP12  Breaking Strain
Jun. 18,1996
Breaking Strain

Because of staff shortage Liz hasn't slept for three nights. She is asked to turn off the ventilator of a brain-dead patient (with relatives present) and accidentally presses the wrong button, which triggers a noisy alarm. She later has an argument with a patient. Claire breaks up with Adrian. Julie breaks up with Cyril. Mr. Docherty finally proposes to Mrs. Trimble. Adrian's son comes in after a traffic accident. Adrian tries to save him but fails. Alone in the theatre, he breaks out in tears. Liz has a nervous breakdown in her room, smashing her pager.

EP11  The Oedipus Effect
Jun. 11,1996
The Oedipus Effect

David the kidney patient returns again as an emergency case. They have reached end of line with dialysis and he is told that he needs a transplant fairly urgently or he will die. Liz asks Rod to phone for some results. A verbal misunderstanding follows, and Liz tells the patient he doesn't have cancer, however the results are in fact cancer, and Liz is in error of judgement again. A drunk driver and his victim are brought in. In an uncharacteristic act, Smedley deliberately ignores treatment of the drunk driver, although Raj realises in time to save him when Smedley reveals that his wife died from a drunk driver some years before. Sister Novac (above right) questions her relationship with Smedley. Raj gets it together with Kirsty the student nurse.

EP10  The Holy Triad
Jun. 04,1996
The Holy Triad

Sister Pereria (from series 2) returns bringing in her son for treatment. DeVries finds out about the blood group and that the boy is his son. Dr. Mortimer tries to teach Mr. Docherty how to dance! A Wharfarin overdose patient initially refuses treatment with a blood transfusion because he is a Jehovah's Witness. When the patient suffers a stroke, he appears to change his mind, however in a seemingly uncharacteristic act of Dr. Collin, he suddenly tries to persuade the patient to continue to refuse treatment with the blood because of religious beliefs. Liz starts to crack under the pressure.

EP9  The Age Of Consent
May. 28,1996
The Age Of Consent

Mr. Docherty plans on proposing to Mrs. Trimble. In a bad day for Mr. Docherty, he accompanies a patient in an ambulance over to the General, however finds that he does not have a lift to return him afterwards. A boy is admitted and an appendectomy performed. When the child complains of leg pain after the operation, Dr. Mortimer examines the boy, however there is trouble when the boy's (almost unbelievably prejudiced) father learns that it is the HIV positive Mortimer who is treating his son. He demands Mortimer is sacked after making a completely false allegation about Mortimer supposedly touching the boy inappropriately. The nurse who observed Mortimer examining the boy can easily confirm there was nothing untoward in his examination, but is told by Tennant not to back up Dr. Mortimer. Later, Mr. Docherty delves into the incident, and the truth is revealed. Smedley, Novac, Raj and Kirsty try to help three children affected by smoke inhalation. During the procedure, Kirsty is told by

EP8  The Way Of All Flesh
May. 21,1996
The Way Of All Flesh

A man and his daughter are brought in after a car accident. The man survives relatively lightly, however the daughter goes on to suffer brain damage. The kidney patient (David) from episode 1 returns, and the issue of organ donation again arises. Despite Claire's personal intervention to try and persuade the man to give his daughter's organs for donation, he refuses

EP7  The Glass Ceiling
May. 14,1996
The Glass Ceiling

A man covers himself with flammable liquid in casualty and threatens to set himself alight. Sister Novac eventually persuades the man to stop. At the same time a criminal called Binns (accompanied by the police) is brought in with a stab wound. His stab wound is treated and he is supposed to be discharged in a short time, however the wound fails to heal properly. It is revealed later that Binns attempts to put off his discharge from the hospital by deliberately infecting the wound himself. New student nurses start at the hospital, including Kirsty (played by Lisa Harkus). Raj takes a fancy to Kirsty. Dr. Collin treats Edith Channing the Parkinson's patient. At the start of the episode she appears extremely confused and difficult to deal with, although at the end of the episode she has completely transformed for the better. Caroline gives Andrew an ultimatum to leave his wife Alison or they stop seeing each other. Novac and Smedley finally get it together.

EP6  Suffer Little Children
May. 07,1996
Suffer Little Children

This excellent episode interweaves a storyline about shaken baby syndrome with which Dr. Raj deals with, a cricket match between the junior doctors and consultants, and a behind-closed-doors meeting about how to resolve Phil Kirkby's possible manslaughter charge. Phil tells Mr. Docherty the truth about the inquest, and how he was expected to lie to cover Dr. Turner. Mr. Docherty promises to help him. Liz is unsure what to do about basic CPR. Raj talks to Nasreen on the phone, and their relationship starts to come under some strain. Claire tells Sarah Hudson that she thinks that Liz is ""ill motivated, innatentive and manipulative"".

EP5  Trench Warfare
Apr. 30,1996
Trench Warfare

A patient, a Michelle Elliot is brought in who appears to be suffering from sharp pain in her stomach. Lots of tests are performed on the woman throughout the episode, however at the end it is Maitland who establishes that she does not have any actual illness, and is faking her symptoms. She is in fact suffering from a kind of illness - Munchausen's syndrome. Mrs. Trimble asks Mr. Docherty to move in with her. Sister Landers reports that she has not caught hepatitis, although her fortunes turn for the worse, when after appearing on a television chat show to criticise management, she is suspended from duty. Phil Kirkby starts to become frustrated about jibes he is receiving about his medical competence since the inquest, and tension mounts between him and Dr. Turner. It is revealed that Tennant has had a previous relationship with Novac. Tennant is suspended.

EP4  The Red Queen
Apr. 23,1996
The Red Queen

This is a wonderfully crafted episode, that is centered entirely around Dr. Collin in casualty. He is the sole doctor available, aside from scant help from Liz Reid, and treats several patients under difficult conditions, including a heart attack victim, a man who has a potentially dangerous cord compression, and a man suffering from a drugs overdose. His main problem is that he is unable to refer patients due to a lack of beds. In the end he manages to refer the most urgent of the patients, and find time to go to the toilet!

EP3  The Practice Of Privacy
Apr. 16,1996
The Practice Of Privacy

Dr. Collin is told by Dr. Turner to continue with a procedure to fit a temporary pacemaker even though he has only seen one done once before. When he gets stuck, Claire who is not on call has contacted at home and brought in to help. Dr. Mortimer is pursued by a journalist about his HIV status. Raj has collision with DeVries' car, and thinks he has got away with it, but DeVries finds out and in order to pay for the damage, Raj goes to work in a private practice for a day. Caroline informs Dr. Collin that he needs to take a HIV test, because Caroline and Luke slept together before. Sister Landers has an accident with a needle. Dr. Turner is told by Tennant to restrict his private practice. Mr. Docherty decides to stand as a replacement for Graham Turner as the chairman of the consultant's committee

EP2  Open And Shut
Apr. 09,1996
Open And Shut

A suspected peritonitis case is brought in. After an exploratory operation, Smedley finds a tumour in the woman's abdomen, but makes a error of judgement by telling the woman that he thinks the all cancer has been taken out, however tests reveal that she has only days to live. Liz goes to sleep forgetting to take her contact lenses out, and is impaired whilst trying to treat a drugs overdose. As a result, she tangles a lavage tube inside the patient's stomach. In a generally bad day for Liz, she also loses her temper with one of the patients. Dr. Collin and Caroline continue their affair.

EP1  The Body Electric
Apr. 02,1996
The Body Electric

A young wife brings her husband in to the hospital with a suspected brain haemorrhage, and he is not expected to survive. The issue of organ transplant is raised. At first the wife says yes, but later changes her mind. David, a recurring character who needs kidney dialysis is introduced. He has a more informal relationship with Maitland, whom he affectionately calls ""slapper"". After Raj gives a patient a cigarette, the patient decides to smoke it when he is taking oxygen, and there is an explosion. A few new characters are introduced. Sarah Hudson the new consultant (it seems in place of Barry Yates who does not appear in series 3), and a new doctor is Liz Reid. Almost straight away, Liz is shown to want to dump most of her duties on other doctors and nurses as much as possible. Two elderly gentleman are brought in - one has bit off and swallowed the other's finger. Raj starts on the GP training scheme.

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8.1 | en | Drama | More Info
Released: 1994-04-21 | Released Producted By: , Country: United Kingdom Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0084g55
Synopsis

This series shows the workings of an English hospital through the eyes of its junior doctors. Naive and idealistic Dr Andrew Collins (Andrew Lancel), soon realises he still has much to learn. His boss, Dr Claire Maitland (Helen Baxendale) on the other hand, has seen it all. She is a competent doctor, with a cynical view, and is ready to work the system when needed, but she and Collins work well together as she guides him through the many minefields of working in the NHS.

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Cast

Danny Webb , Melanie Hill , Peter O'Brien

Director

Tony Garnett

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Reviews

Paul Stringer Gripping, compulsive viewing. This series was the BBC at its best. It sits alongside the likes of Tenko, Edge of Darkness, Brideshead Revisited, This Life as the cream of British drama. Its dark, uncompromising humour never failed to entertain thoroughly. It was so good as it managed to be left field but not esoteric, funny but not soft, sexy but not gratuitously so. It remains Helen Baxendale's best work by a country mile. This sort of drama has been lost to a seemingly unending tidal wave of reality TV banality. Series producers need to watch this time and again to understand what really works. It died too soon.
tintinbike I was close to an individual working as a Junior NHS doc and they told me this was more like a documentary than a drama. I found it compelling and scary to watch. Its strength was watching individuals be subsumed by a monster of a system designed to care for the sick and how they survived. Apparently the Royal College of Nurses complained about the portrayal of nurses as less than angelic, this combined with Helen Baxendale leaving meant a short but bitter sweet run.See "Bodies" for more of the same from the script writer who is/was a hospital doctor.
DPYPER Cardiac arrest has to be the best hospital series made. Yes it was unpopular with the people but was a reflection of life in the NHS not as a patient but as staff. Espically the Junior house doctors who along with the nursing staff make the system work.
magicjohnson Outstanding stuff! This is clearly one of the classic dark comedies. Why it's not more highly thought of is a mystery. It could be nostalgia, but I still think it's almost perfect...There is a lot of great stuff in this. It is perfectly written - harsh but with enough edge to the humour to keep things in balance. I can't fault the casting either; Helen Baxendale hasn't had a better role since and the whole ensemble plays with panache. It sounds simple but so few people get it right - especially in the UK. You can make a darkly hued comic drama work, if you write it properly and cast it well.Where is it's successor? Come to think of it (especially given it's current relevance) where's the DVD?