Cardiac Arrest: Complete Collection [DVD] [1994]

Bought as a Christmas gift. They are enjoying it

Simply packaged DVD box set.Hard to believe that this started in 4:3. How quickly time passes.Good performances by a great cast. They portray the mostly unseen and painful experience of junior doctors in the 80s and 90s.The rich, dark humour that permeates the episodes wanders in to tragedy and deadly-seriousness at times. This provides some unpleasant realism at times.Things are better now, but this still stands as one of the best of its type.

I have just finished watching this again having made a point of watching all of it the first time it was broadcast. I was delighted to find it available again as a boxset as I had seen it offered many times in home recorded form on Ebay and avoided it hoping that one day it would become available as an official release.I was also delighted to find like other reviewers here, that it was just as good ten years on as it was when it was first shown.Many of the other reviewers have already covered the strengths of this programme - I would like particularly to highlight the fantastic Jed Mercurio/John MacUre scripts and the uniformly excellent cast which means that there isn't a single episode that lets the series down in any way - they are all terrific.Of course the principals - Andrew Lancel, Helen Baxendale etc. merit the praise they have received but I had fogotten how good Jo Dow was as the anaesthetist and Peter O'Brien as 'Scissors' Smedley.I would recommend this to anyone who has seen 'Bodies' - as for me although that is very good, this is better - in fact I'd recommend it to anyone who likes high quality, superbly acted television.

I was a junior doc on a 1 in 2 for most of a year (meaning oncall every other night, all night - and no you don't get the next day off either) and still at times feel bitter about the way we were treated. I remember arriving for work on a friday morning and working through the night into saturday, saturday night, sunday, sunday night into monday - and finding it hard when other staff on more humane shift systems would lack understanding of how sleep deprivation can distort a personality.I remember non-medic family and friends not really believing the hours when they were explained. How many people would get on a bus if the driver had been working those hours.As for the unsympathetic portrayals of other disciplines, particularly management - cutting and accurate in my opinion. I am so glad this series is available as I wind myself down towards retirement watching the NHS been sliced and diced into mini-businesses - I am proud I was 'told off' for not being 'corporate' - for agreeing with a GPs accurate criticism of our service..thanks Jed Mercurio - this is wonderful stuff.Would agree with others here who have also recommended Bodies - excellent drama.

No other "medical drama" captured the reality of a juniors life in the NHS in the late 80`s/early 90`s as well as this.Lazy nurses [sadly angels were in the minority in the experience of many of us], bullying bosses more interested in their PP`s, management determined to shaft the most junior medics at every turn....I suspect things arent quite so bleak these days , but even for anyone thinking of a career in medicine its worth watching.There were howls from nursing bodies and politicians when this came out and you can see why.It told it was it was.The VT looks dated in places [lots of 90`s stuff has that odd washed out appearance], and some of the acting in places can be a little OTT, but , hey its meant to be entertainment.Nurse whitecoat, the decent old school consultant, the bullying meglomaniac , the corrupt mamagement, the hot female reg who knew her stuff......yep, most of us can recognise elements of all of them.Watching night staff come on, go off, day staff come on and night staff return.....yep, bought that t-shirt.Great value for money as well.

Not only is Cardiac Arrest the best medical drama of all time, it's also one of the best TV series ever.Well dated in terms of fashions and equipment (1996 was a long time ago now!), what surprises is how the dialogue still sparkles, and how many of the scenes still have real power to shock and stick in the mind.In the person of Doctor Claire Maitland, writer Jed Mecurio created one of the most complex and fascinating characters in post war British drama. Helen Baxendale's brilliant portrayal of this very gifted, cynical, vivacious and sexy young woman helps too.Andrew Lancel plays a much more boring character, but does so in a sympathetic and convincing way.As for the rest of the cast, they mainly achieve that effortless brilliance of much British character acting - in other words you forget you're watching acting.Then there's a rather clever use of a limited production budget, by shooting almost entirely indoors in cramped examination rooms and operating theatres.And so on and so on and so on. This is British television of the highest quality. Get!

This early outing by the highly talented writer Jed Mercurio is certainly very watchable, but rather flimsy in comparison with his later outstanding medical drama series "Bodies," which has far greater depth in terms of both plot line and character development.Amusing in some places, alarming in others, and OK value for a tenner, but I probably won't watch it a second time.

Line of Duty writer Jed Mercurio broke into television with this after answering an advert in a medical journal for a doctor who could write a hospital drama.A bit dated now but in its time as high impact as anything current.Well worth a watch.