Cardiac Arrest: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Cardiac Arrest is a British medical drama series made by World Productions for BBC1 and first broadcast between 1994 and 1996.

The series was controversial due to its cynical depiction of doctors, nurses, and the National Health Service, although it has often topped polls of the UK medical profession as the most realistic medical drama of all time.

The series was created by Jed Mercurio (writing under the pseudonym John MacUre), a former junior doctor who had worked at a hospital in Wolverhampton, who drew on his own personal experiences to provide a more visceral, albeit wryly humorous, look at the NHS in the 1990s.

Cardiac Arrest is a satirical comedy drama that follows the journey of Dr. Andrew Collin, a newly qualified houseman who arrives on the wards equipped only with theoretical knowledge and a sense of humour. Collin's idealism is immediately at odds with senior house officer Claire Maitland, a pragmatic and cynical physician determined to make him learn the hard way.

Series details

• Title: Cardiac Arrest
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Comedy, Medical
• Premiere date: 1994-04-21
• Final broadcast date listed: 1996-06-25
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 8429
• IMDb ID: tt0108719
• TVDB ID: 77063

Cast and credited roles

• Andrew Lancel — Dr. Andrew Collin
• Helen Baxendale — Dr. Claire Maitland
• Ace Bhatti — Dr. Rajesh Rajah
• Jonathan Dow — Dr. James Mortimer
• Tom Watson — Mr. Ernest Docherty
• Michael MacKenzie — Dr. Graham Turner

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1994-04-21; final listed air date 1994-06-02; episode order: 6.
• Season 2: premiered 1995-04-19; final listed air date 1995-06-07; episode order: 8.
• Season 3: premiered 1996-04-02; final listed air date 1996-06-25; episode order: 13.

Source and licence

Adapted from Cardiac Arrest on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.