Seven of the best medical dramas you must watch - and No.1 is better than House
Hugh Laurie starred as House in the hit medical drama
Medical dramas have been a TV staple almost since the invention of the medium. While the US was ahead of the curve with 1954's Medic and the UK soon jumped on the bandwagon withEmergency Ward 10 in 1957, and viewers have been hooked ever since. Alongside soaps, they are one of the most enduring dramas on TV, and if producers get the formula right, they can run for decades, as in the case of shows such as Casualty (coming up to 40 years) and Grey's Anatomy (in its 22nd season).
While the basic formula is hard to mess with - you obviously require medical professionals and some sort of practice or hospital- it is the characters and scenarios which keep viewers glued. Part of the appeal could be familiarity. After all, we have all spent time in medical settings at some point. Whatever the reason, the popularity of the genre shows no sign of dissipating. And while everyone has their favourite, here are seven you can stream right now and all come highly recommended.
One reviewer described this period medical drama as "Peaky Blinders in surgical scrubs. Starring Clive Owen, it ran for two seasons, both of which are available to stream on Sky Go. It takes its title from the New York hospital featured in the show - the upmarket Knickerbocker Hospital. It follows the staff as they transition from mainly treating local patients to providing services to underprivileged immigrants.
This Heartbeat spin-off proved hugely successful in its own right. It ran for 83 episodes from 2003 until 2011 and they are all available to stream. Starring TV legend Wendy Craig the show followed the doctors and nurses at the fictional St. Aidan's Royal Free Hospital in the seaside town of Elsinby as they care for patients and deal with their own issues.
The hit medical drama, whose cast included Doctor Who star Freema Agyeman, ended in 2023 after five years, but all seasons are available to binge on Prime Video. Set in one of the oldest hospitals in the United States, the premise sees renegade doctor Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold) trying to overhaul the medical protocols to offer better healthcare. Surprisingly warm and cosy for a medical drama, this is still missed by fans.
This comedy-drama ran for seven seasons from June 2009 until June 2015, and all episodes are available to stream. Edie Falco is amazing in the titular role as a drug-addicted emergency department nurse at the fictional All Saints' Hospital, and the show was deserving of all its many plaudits.
You would be hard-pressed to find a Grey's Anatomy fan who doesn't think the show's best days came in its first decade on air. But despite the departure of fan favourite Patrick Dempsey aka McDreamy, and what only amounts to sporadic appearances now from Ellen Pompeo as Merith Grey (the Grey's of the title), the show maintains a loyal following. Even 22 seasons in, it manages to feature cases that will make your jaw drop while maintaining the emotional heart of the show.
If you're only discovering Casualty now, you are about 40 years late to that party, as the show is getting set to celebrate four decades on air this September. The long-running BBC medical drama remains consistently popular and beloved despite often getting shunted around the schedule. While you can't screen the entire series from the beginning at present, you can catch up on every episode from 2022, which will get you up to speed before the big anniversary.
Created by Michael Crichton, ER, which originally launched in September 1994, remains one of the most popular medical dramas of all time, and all 15 seasons are now available to stream. It is the show that gave the world George Clooney and also made Alex Kingston a global star. Of course, there had been medical dramas before this, but it created the template for all the shows which followed.