BBC NOT ALONE

Having slagged off the BBC for some of its recent productions, it's only fair that I comment on other channels too.

I watched the first episode of 'Monroe', ITV's new medical drama, with some trepidation as James Nesbitt has never been a great favourite of mine and I really couldn't see him as a consultant neuro-surgeon. Sadly, my worst fears were realized and the second episode was every bit as bad as the first; any attempt to suggest that this series is comparable with  the superb US series 'House' is misguided in the extreme.

Having worked in a senior level in the NHS for many years, and met many senior doctors, Nesbitt's portrayal is totally foreign. Yes, some surgeons are a little eccentric but Nesbitt is, frankly, laughable; a worse piece of casting is hard to imagine. Not only is Nesbitt horribly miscast but the rest are hardly realistic; they seem to be designed to order, more to manufacture possible future storylines than to be representative of any recognizable NHS.

Given the public's interest in medical dramas of whatever quality, as witnessed by the longevity of the execrable 'Casualty' and 'Holby City', one has to anticipate that 'Monroe' may well survive to future series. This is dreadful rubbish and should be consigned to the dustbin; whether or not it will be is in the hands of its audience, in whose judgement I have little faith.