HEART of the matter

Published date15 April 2024
Publication titleHuddersfield Daily Examiner
The company was Tony Garnett's World Productions and the drama went on to become Cardiac Arrest

It launched on the BBC 30 years ago on April 21, 1994, and was written by Jed under the pseudonym John MacUre as he was working as a junior doctor in Birmingham at the time.

Writer: Jed

He bought a Porsche with the earnings from Cardiac Arrest and left medicine to concentrate on his writing.

His medical background has continued to influence his work, with his series Bodies (adapted his first novel) starring Max Beesley, and Critical, starring Lennie James, both set inside hospitals. His police drama Line Of Duty propelled him to household name status.

Cardiac Arrest started by following the fortunes of new doctor Andrew Collin (Andrew Lancel) as he began work in a big city hospital.

Mercurio

The series itself was filmed in a disused part of a hospital in Glasgow.

The medical drama sparked controversy due to its realistic depiction of hospital life and health secretary Virginia Bottomley condemned its portrayal of hospital staff, but the TV series topped a poll of UK medical professionals as the most realistic medical drama of all time.

Jed, who was awarded an OBE in 2022 for his services to TV drama, said: "I tried to get a lot of humour into Cardiac Arrest, the first series I wrote, and...

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