The Royal - ITV
The Royal - Episode 1 - All you need is love
The new series of ITV's Heartbeat spin-off, the Royal, started with a suitably 60s title. It began with a typical feel good factor scene when Doctors Gordon Ormerod (Robert Daws) and Jill Weatherill (Amy Robbins) took their family to the beach. Dr Weatherill showed some formidable skill with a cricket bat and was only bowled out when Gordon asked a friend to join in.
But the Royal is a hospital drama and the friend developed stomach pains and was rushed to hospital. Dr Weatherill's diagnosis of appendicitis was wrong and he was found to have a perforated bowel and tumour on the operating table. Mr Rose (Denis Lill) was called away from an operation at Ashfordly General to take over, but sadly the patient died of septicaemia following the operation in the early hours of the next day.
There was more trouble when Dr Jeff Goodwin (Paul Fox) was asked to intervene when a welfare officer and baby Charlie Worthington's Grandmother (Annie Miles) refuse to let her son and his girlfriend, Joanna, take out their son without supervision, as they were not deemed to be responsible parents. Dr Goodwin persuaded Granny to agree to a morning out in the park. However, the couple let him down when they left baby out in the sun for too long.
Some humour and embarrassment was provided when Nurse Catherine Deane (Amelia Curtis) thought Hospital Administrator, Adam Carnegie (Robert Cavanagh) was about to ask her to accompany him to a ball, but was mistaken. Ken Hopkirk (Michael Starke) even offered to coach her in ballroom dancing.
Adam Carnegie questioned Dr Weatherill's judgement and the episode ended when he castigated Dr Goodwin for overstepping the mark. Dr Ormerod weighed in and now a "Casualty style" doctors vs hospital administrator scenario seems to be developing.
By the way, did you spot the two-tone red and white telephone on Dr Goodwin's desk. It might look very retro, but in the sixties telephones were either red OR white, not both!