A report in an Australian newspaper this weekend suggests that Channel Ten is considering bringing back the 1970s medical soap The Young Doctors. A hit throughout the late 70s and early 80s The Young Doctors made stars of many of its cast, including Alan Dale who went on to play Jim Robinson in Neighbours before moving to the US where he now stars in Ugly Betty.
The report says that Ten are in talks with Grundy, the company behind both Neighbours and The Young Docs, to resuscitate the classic soap as a 6 o'clock lead in to Neighbours. The Ramsay Street soap is still suffering from poor ratings despite a high profile revamp, and the latest news that show stalwart Ian Smith, who has played Harold Bishop on and off for two decades, is to quit can only add to the soap's woes.
Would you like to see the doctors and nurses of the Albert Memorial back on our screens? Could the original magic be recreated now that so many of the show's stars - Gwen Plumb, Alfred Sandor, Michael Beecher and others - have sadly passed on? Let us know your thoughts!
Monday, 5 November 2007
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2 comments:
Bring back The Young Docs! Lots of good looking doctors and nurses and a couple of older actors - what about actors like Ian Rawlings who are no longer on our screens, playing the older hospital staff?
I actually have mixed views as to whether a revival of this sexy 1970s soap would work.
Certainly, I do not think that the passing of many of the original mainstay actors (including Alfred Sandor and Gwen Plumb) would have any effect simply because even if they were still alive, they would now be around 90 and, obviously, you could not feasibly have a 90 year old kiosk attendant or surgeon working at the Albert!
However, more importantly, as a huge fan of the original series could the magic be recaptured in a new 2000s version of the show?.
I think one of the main problems a revival would have is that the original version of this show was screened on TV during a much more innocent era. This should be compared with the much rougher edge of television which exists today where the borders of the perimssible have been extended beyond recognition from what would have been deemed acceptable television viewing in the 1970s and early 1980s.
However, for many, one of the great charms and strengths of the original version was its innocence - taboo subjects simply were not discussed or confronted. In many respects, you could say that the show was right for the times in which it aired. That said, a revival which held true to the show's orginal format and values is unlikely to chime with today's viewing audience, simply because times have moved on.
If they were to replicate the format exactly, it would appear old fashioned - like something out of the 1970s - so it must be updated!. But for many it was The Young Doctors' charm and innocence which endeared it to millions of viewers the world over. So, if it is updated, will a new version risk alienating legions of fans of the original series?. And, of course, fans of the original series will always compare the revival to the old version!
We also fell in love with the original characters from Ada Simmonds to John Forrest to Peter & Julie Holland to Kate Rhodes to Tania Livingstone to Dr Denham to Denham's secretary, Helen Gordon; the list is endless.
So whether a new version works will depend to a large extent on how the characters are scripted; but certainly I would hope that any revival would seek to develop a new set of characters from scratch rather than simply recasting the originals.
For all the negatives I've expressed here, it is possible that a new version might just work. After all, the New Zealand based soap opera, Shortland Street, is in many respects like an updated version of The Young Doctors and has proved equally popular with a largely teatime audience, including myself when it was screened in the UK.
Personally, my own preference would be for them to make a new hospital based drama (even using The Young Doctors as a template if they like) but to give it another name to prevent endless comparisons with the original and so that our cherished memeories of The Young Doctors can remain intact if a new version does not live up to expectations.
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