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| The Royal
|
<tr><td>Format</td><td>Drama</td></tr><tr><td>Run time</td><td>60 minutes</td></tr><tr><td>Starring</td><td>See Current cast</td></tr><tr><td>Channel</td><td>ITV1</td></tr><tr><td>Production company</td><td>ITV Productions</td></tr><tr><td>Related shows</td><td>Heartbeat</td></tr><tr><td>Air dates</td><td>19 January 2003 – Present</td></tr><tr><td>No. of series</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>No. of episodes</td><td>51</td></tr>
The Royal is a British medical drama. The serial television show features one hour episodes aired by the ITV1. The title refers to the fictional "St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital", which is located in the rural seaside town of Elsinby close to Whitby, Scarborough and Aidensfield. The town serves both the local farmers and townsfolk and visiting holidaymakers. The show is set in the 1960s and is filmed in the Yorkshire holiday resort of Scarborough. It is a spin-off show from the popular ITV show Heartbeat. Current stars include Wendy Craig, Paul Fox and Amy Robbins.
The majority of the plots centre around medical emergencies and the moral dilemmas created or exposed by the emergencies. Typically there are several ongoing 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 will be addressed in greater detail in season 5 following the new black Doctor Joan Makori joining The Royal in episode 49. The ethical challenges and social changes faced by the hospital staff and their patients mirror those faced by the world in the 1960s.
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. All that is known is that her nickname during the Second World War, when she served as a nurse, was "Toffee".
Series 6 is currently in production and is due to be screened in 2007.
ITV1 bosses are in talks about axing The Royal after its sister show Heartbeat was axed this year after 16 series to make room for new shows.
[edit] Interesting facts
- The telephone number for The Royal is Elsinby 3323 and there's no Tuesday Evening Surgery.
- The code to the safe in Mr. Middleditch's Office (which is now under the command of Adam Carnegie) is 1886 which is the same year The Royal was founded!
- Episode 05.09 in the Series 5 Presspack is clearly entitled "Winners & Losers" however, in the opening credits the title of the episode that appears on screen is "Winners & Loser".
- The series was introduced in the twelfth series episode 'Out Of The Blue' of Heartbeat. Several 'Heartbeat' characters appeared in the first couple of series of The Royal, most notably Bill Maynard as a bed-ridden Greengrass; However, as the series has progressed, it has generally dropped its character crossovers with Heartbeat to become its own entity.
[edit] Current cast
[edit] Previous cast members
[edit] Series guide
[edit] External links
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