Imperial Medics in BBC3 reality show

Junior Doctors: Your Life in their Hands is back! After a first series in Newcastle General Hospital and the Royal Victoria Infirmary, eight newly-qualified doctors hit the wards of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. After getting their MBBS, for the first time, they have to deal with real life and death situations and take on the responsibility of taking care of patients.

Four junior doctors are ex-Imperial students. Aki is described as “Kensington meets Rock’n’Roll” and easily pictured in the Reynolds bar; he is “Mess President” now, basically in charge of organising parties for the doctors. Ben is a rugby lad (probably in a centrefold), very popular with the ladies and doing his second foundation year in child surgery. Priya once dreamt of becoming a Bollywood actress and now works in general surgery. Sameer is a Harry Potter fan, threatened with an arranged marriage by his family and produces entertaining quotes like “I’d describe myself as fun… fair… not funfair” and “I’d like to treat extra-terrestrials”, “the alien master race”.

If you are a medical drama junkie like me, it provides you with all the medicine you want without leaving the personal experience...

The other four junior doctors come from different universities across the country. Amieth is quite laidback, not sure a quality you’d look for in a doctor, but so far nothing dramatic has happened. Andy is the youngest doctor working for the hospital and apparently incapable of growing facial hair. Lucy is absolutely lovely, described as an English rose by one of her patients. When the last junior doctor, Milla, was introduced, I almost expected ‘Midnight City’ by M83 (the Made in Chelsea theme tune) to come on. She loves balls and hats and was inspired to become a doctor when she was a child to keep her parents alive and healthy forever. Cheesy but kind of cute.

The last thing to say about the first two episodes is that they are uneventful. Breach of doctor-patient confidentiality, multiple failures at fitting a cannula in, putting a finger up a patient’s arse, certifying a death and a phone ringing during reanimation, you will not be bored, maybe just a bit concerned about your next trip to the hospital. Although apparently you can get sandwiches in A&E.

The show is great. The producers have made a real effort for the soundtrack, with lyrics completely adapted to the situation. If you are a medical drama junkie like me, it provides you with all the medicine you want without leaving out the personal experience and emotional aspect. As the junior doctors gradually learn how to do the job, you are given the opportunity of a window into the world of hospitals and patients. The only disappointing aspect of this new series for me is that I really miss the previous junior doctors: Suzi the Barbie girl, gorgeous Adam, Andy, Katherine, Jon, Keir and Lucy.