The Royal - ITV
This series of The Royal is over, but Heartbeat is back - Sundays at 8pm on ITV.
ITV's drama series "The Royal" is a spin off from Heartbeat. Like ITV's Heartbeat The Royal is set in the swinging 60s. "The Royal" is a medical drama which evokes memories of older medical dramas made in the 60s such as "Emergency Ward Ten". The setting is St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital in Elsinby. Elsinby is a seaside town. Most of the filming takes place in Scarborough.
Some of the characters from Heartbeat also appear in the Royal. You might have recognised Phil Bellamy, and even Claude Greengrass in some of the previous episodes.
You might recognise this building above which doubles as "The Royal" for the series.
You can now see repeats of the Royal on ITV weekdays at 5pm.
The Royal - the cast
- Dr Gordon Ormerod - Robert Daws
- Dr Jill Weatherill - Amy Robbins
- Dr Jeff Goodwin - Paul Fox
- Dr Joan Makori - Kananu Kirimi
- Mr Rose - Denis Lill
- Dr Mike Banner - Sam Callis
- Nurse Stella Davenport - Natalie Anderson
- Nurse Marion McKaig - Kari Corbett
- Sister Brigid - Linda Armstrong
- Nurse Catherine Deane - Amelia Curtis
- Matron - Wendy Craig
- Lizzie Hopkirk - Michelle Hardwick
- Alun Morris - Andy Wear
- Ken Hopkirk - Michael Starke
- Teddy Catchpole - Tom Mannion
- T J Middleditch - Ian Carmichael
- Adam Carnegie - Robert Cavanagh
- Frankie Robinson - Scott Taylor
How realistic is ITV's The Royal?
If the Royal is set in the late 1960's how come the female doctor is taking maternity leave? When I worked full time in 1979, maternity leave was only just being introduced. Before then it was not a concept and certainly not in the late 1960s. This is just one anachronism that I have noticed; I do not see the point in setting a programme in a particular era and then ignoring the mores of that time. It is noticeable that some of the views expressed are those of the 21 century and they do not sit well with the life styles which were current at the time in which the programme is supposed to be set. Songsinger