http://www.metromagazine.com.au | © ATOM | Metro Magazine 195• 63characters, the stresses of ambition, the technicalities
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In Australia, the most iconic show of this kind is
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Wales, it works hard to depict a slice of Australian life.
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the backdrop for an underrepresented part of the country
- away from the achromatic suburbs of-DHFGANTQR, less
political and volatile than/QHRNMDQPRUHZRUNLQJFODVV
than3GD 2TKKHU@MR.
6LJQLĺFDQWO\/TKRD’s casting knowingly mirrors Western
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it would have been a failure on the show’s part had it
cast in the manner of the largely homogenous KK 2@HMSR,
or laboured the narrative by having ‘an “ethnic” story
to tell’.A key success of/TKRDis its normalisation of
diverse representation. It not only depicts patients and
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While the performances are consistent throughout/TKRD,
there is always a tension between believability and the
overplaying of roles. There are doctors ticking boxes in
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who are there for the patients, like Berger, and those there
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characterisations make for an interesting story, there is little
that is underplayed by the cast It is only the role of ward
nurse Carol (played by "NTMSQX /Q@BSHBD’s Penny Cook)
that is afforded a sparseness, making room for an under
stated physicality in Cook’s performance.
The busyness of the script perhaps aims to replicate
the relentlessness of the job. We’re made privy to the hours
spent on tired feet, the meals skipped, the furrowed brows,
the takeaway coffees drunk on the move. We see the inability
to spend time on the detail because new patients need triag
ing, and the constant pressure to clear beds. We hear the
ticking clock that runs against the question, ‘What have we
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desperate sips of water when she can, Frankie’s frustration
at the lack of time and resources resonates. The pressure of
staying well while giving her best to her job, of looking after
herself to be able to look after others, is a constant push and
pull, impacting her ability to provide empathetic care.
The extent of empathy
As patients, we want doctors to see into our world – to
see the frustration in the everyday things we’re forced to
endure by our ill health: the restless nights, the diminished
social lives, the numbness from the meds. We want them
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tration has to come out somehow, whether that means not
doing your exercises, or drinking too much, or not taking
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dehydrated and at risk of putting herself on regular dialysis.
When Frankie stops to hold a patient’s hand or spend a
few extra minutes with a family member – as she does for
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son – her patients feel less like they’re being lectured to,
and more like they’re being cared for.
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impression, but it takes us to places that series that have
come before haven’t. It shows us the lives of both patients
and doctors. It shows us what a hospital really looks like
and how it really functions./TKRDLV DERXW WKRVH ZKR VXU
vive and those who are left behind, and the little hidden
moments that often mean the most.
As the series reaches its conclusion, Berger – forced
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removed, complications from his own illness lead to his
death. The hospital, its staff, its patients and, of course,
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Berger, Frankie replies, ‘He’s done well’ – putting her at
ease and allowing her to recover from surgery.
But/TKRDLVQpW DERXW ORVV LWpV DERXW UHQHZDO t WKH VHF
ond chances, the friendships and bonds that come from
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pathy. We don’t always see what’s going on behind the
scenes of a hospital, but this seriesproves that that doesn’t
mean it’s not worthy of our attention, or our thanks.http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/pulse/Kylie Maslen is a writer and events producer from Adelaide.
She writes on topics including cultural criticism, women’s
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Anatomy’,The New Daily -XO\ KWWS WKHQHZGDLO\
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