The Royal

The Royal
The Royal intro.
Starring	Denis Lill Wendy Craig Michelle Hardwick Robert Daws Andy Wear Linda Armstrong Amy Robbins Glynis Barber Gareth Hale Neil McDermott Diana May Lauren Drummond
Opening theme	"Somebody Help Me" by The Spencer Davis Group
Ending theme	"Somebody Help Me" (instrumental) by The Spencer Davis Group
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	8
No. of episodes	87 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	ITV, STV, UTV
Picture format	16:9
Original release	19 January 2003 – 31 July 2011
Chronology
Related shows	Heartbeat The Royal Today
External links
Website

The Royal is a British period medical drama produced by ITV and aired normally on Sundays in the early evening slot; episodes after 21 June 2009, were also broadcast on ITV HD. The show consisted of eight series of one-hour episodes and was broadcast on ITV1 from 2003 until the show was cancelled in 2011, with repeats continuing on ITV3. The show is set in the 1960s and focuses on the fictional "St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital", an NHS hospital serving the fictional rural seaside town of Elsinby and its surrounding area. The show began as a spin-off of ITV's period police drama series, Heartbeat, featuring characters from Heartbeat during the first three series, before becoming its own entity.

The show itself was shot within Whitby, Scarborough, and the North Riding of Yorkshire, and stars of The Royal included Ian Carmichael, Wendy Craig, Robert Daws, and Amy Robbins. The show itself generated its own spin-off, entitled The Royal Today, which used the same settings but in the present day.

Overview

The setting of The Royal was first introduced as part of the story for the 14th episode of the 12th series of Heartbeat entitled 'Out Of The Blue', in which the hospital was used to treat Heartbeat character, Vernon Scripps and several people of Aidensfield. The benefit of this and its connection to the show, helped it to gain its own series, though it initially began as a spin-off with several characters from Heartbeat appearing in episodes as part of its main plots or side story; the most prominent of these appearances were Claude Greengrass (Bill Maynard), PC Alfred "Alf" Ventress (William Simons), and PC Philip "Phil" Montgomery Bellamy (Mark Jordon). By the end of the third series, the show's ties to Heartbeat were discontinued, with the show's production team working to make it into its own entity by the fourth series. Unlike its former parent show, The Royal uses the song "Somebody Help Me" by The Spencer Davis Group as it main theme tune, with an instrumental version playing over the ending credits.^[1]

The majority of the plots in each episode centred around medical emergencies or a serious medical case, and often featured moral dilemmas created or exposed by these matters. Additional story-lines also included staff members dealing with personal problems or issues, and an occasional side-story in a similar vein to Heartbeat. While the show tended to avoid political topics on the whole (the Vietnam War was briefly touched in one episode), its main themes focused and centred upon the conflict between progressive and conservative social ideals, as well as the ethical challenges and social changes faced by the hospital's staff, a reflection of its setting and what was faced by the world in the 1960s. Although the setting used includes references to 1960s events, such as the coming of colour television, like Heartbeat the show featured a number of anachronisms, such as the use of "a glass ceiling", an expression not coined until some years later.

Filming

Filming of the interior scenes of "St. Aiden's" utilised both The Leeds Studios and St. Luke's Hospital, Bradford, the latter of which was chosen because it had not been updated in many years, and retained the appearance of what a hospital would appear like in the 1960s. The exterior scenes of the fictional hospital used the Red Court building on Holbeck Road, within Scarborough's South Cliff, and included the nearby park area and Holbeck Clock Tower; scenes were shot during the summer months.^[1][2] The remaining scenes outside the hospital covered the area of the North Riding of Yorkshire, including Whitby and Scarborough.

Cast

Name	Portrayed by	Character's Occupation	Years
			'03	'04	'05	'06	'07	'08	'09	'11
Dr. Gordon Ormerod	Robert Daws	GP	Main
Dr. Jill Weatherill	Amy Robbins	GP	Main
Dr David Cheriton	Julian Ovenden	GP	Main
Dr Lucy Klein	Polly Maberly	Consultant Psychologist	Main
Dr Jeff Goodwin	Paul Fox	GP	Main
Dr Joan Makori	Kananu Kirimi	GP				Main
Dr Mike Banner	Sam Callis	GP					Main
Dr Nick Burnett	Damian O'Hare	GP						Main
Meryl Taylor	Zoie Kennedy	Senior Staff Nurse	Main
Samantha Beaumont	Anna Madeley	Student Nurse	Main
T.J. Middleditch	Ian Carmichael	Chairman of the Middleditch Trust	Main				Special Guest Star
Sister Brigid	Linda Armstrong	Ward Sister	Main
Mr. Rose	Denis Lill	Consultant, General Surgeon	Main
Ken Hopkirk	Michael Starke	Head Porter	Main
Lizzie Hopkirk	Michelle Hardwick	Receptionist	Main
Alun Morris	Andy Wear	Porter, Theatre Technician	Main
Matron	Wendy Craig	Matron	Main
Nigel Harper	John Axon	Administrator	Main
Frankie Robinson	Scott Taylor	Ambulance Driver		Main
Stella Davenport	Natalie Anderson	Staff Nurse			Main
Catherine Deane	Amelia Curtis	Staff Nurse				Main
Marian McKaig	Kari Corbett	Staff Nurse					Main
Adam Carnegie	Robert Cavanah	Hospital Secretary			Main
Susie Dixon	Sarah Beck Mather	Student Nurse					Main
Bobby Sheridan	Chris Coghill	Ambulance Driver						Main
Jack Bell	Gareth Hale	Head Porter						Main
Jean McAteer	Glynis Barber	Hospital Secretary							Main
Carol Selby	Diana May	Staff Nurse							Main
Dr. Ralph Ellis	Neil McDermott	Locum Doctor							Main
Faye Clark	Lauren Drummond	Student Nurse								Main

Episode list

Ratings

Below is the list of ratings of The Royal, giving an overall result for each series.

Series	Year	Rank #	Average Audience Share
1	2003	10th	10.12 m
2	2003	11th	7.16 m
3	2003–2004	13th	9.17 m
4	2004–2005	12th	8.49 m
5	2006	10th	7.93 m
6	2007	11th	7.24 m
7	2008–2009	15th	4.91 m
8	2009–2011	15th	4.62 m (Incl. ITV1+1)

Overall Rating 2003 - 2011	Rank #	Average Audience Share
	12th	7.45 m

The Royal Today

In 2007, ITV commissioned a daytime spin-off of The Royal, entitled The Royal Today. The spin-off focused on the same settings of the main show, but set in the present day with a new cast of characters. The show ran for one series in 2008 between 7 January to 14 March. The show was axed due to low ratings.

End of production

Speculation surrounding the future of both Heartbeat and The Royal began in 2009, when ITV announced on 4 March that a loss of £2.7 billion was forcing it to make cutbacks in employment numbers, the biggest of which were made at ITV Yorkshire Studios resulting in its subsequent closure. Many raised concerns that the shows were to be axed, after reports were made to that effect in earlier in January, though a spokesperson stated later that the production of the shows was simply "resting".^[3][4] No official news was given that the show was axed, but like Heartbeat, the series ended with a cliffhanger surrounding one of its main characters, when the final episode was aired on 31 July 2011.^[5][6]

References

1. http://www.sykesssillysite.co.uk/heartbeat/heartbeat_royal_p24.htm
2. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3711423
3. Paul Revoir (28 January 2009). "Cash-strapped ITV axes family dramas Heartbeat and The Royal". Daily Mail. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
4. "Heartbeat and The Royal future in doubt: SIGN THE PETITIONS HERE - Local". Scarborough Evening News. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
5. "The Royal". tv.com. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
6. https://lifeofwylie.com/2011/08/02/the-royal-goodbye/ The Royal: Goodbye Mr Rose 2 August 2011

External links

• The Royal at the Internet Movie Database