After more than a year’s wait, the most highly acclaimed drama of recent years is finally, officially, coming to UK screens this week.
The Pitt will stream on HBO Max – the rebranded Discovery+ service – when it starts operations on March 26th. The first season will be available in its entirety from day one, with the second season – which has four weeks left to run in the US – playing catch-up.
What is The Pitt?
The Pitt is absolutely not ER. Let’s make that abundantly, and legally, clear. Despite the fact it’s set in an emergency room, is showrun by ER alumni John Welles and Scott Gemmill, and stars ER’s Noah Wyle as the top doctor in the emergency room, it’s absolutely not just a sequel or a remake or a reboot of ER.
We say this because, originally, during the pandemic Wyle, Wells and Gemmill pitched exactly that – a follow-up legacy sequel to ER, starring Wyle’s character John Carter from that show. But the estate of Michael Crichton, who created ER (along with Jurassic Park, which his estate sees to have no problem being rebooted and legacy sequeled into oblivion) put the kibosh on it.
So instead they revised the pitch into something a bit different. Set in the trauma medical centre of a hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, each season is unfolds in effectively real time, with each hour-long episode representing an hour of the shift during that day.
This gives the show a lot more time to breath, meaning cases which might be dealt with in a few minutes in a standard procedural can be drawn out, realistically, over multiple episodes, representing the length of time treatment, monitoring and care may take.
Wyle in particular as star, EP, director and writer of the show – and as the son of an emergency room nurse himself – wanted it to be the most realistic medical show ever made, and reflective of modern US healthcare issues in a way that other dramas have struggled to capture.
Who’s in it?
Wyle still stars, but now he is Dr Michael Robinavich, the troubled senior attending of the PTMC’s emergency room. As it’s a teaching hospital, the debut season follows a bunch of medical students on their first day at the ER, where they’re thrown right in at the deep end.
The first season also co-starred British actor Tracy Ifeachor – a regular on UK and US TV, including roles in stuff like Doctor Who and Legends of Tomorrow – as Dr Heather Collins, the other senior resident in the er.
Patrick Ball plays Dr Frank Langdon, the other senior resident and Robby’s right hand man (at least, initially), while Katherine LaNasa – one of those actors who has been in EVERYTHING – is the emergency room’s no-nonsense, ultra capable charge nurse Dana Evans, and Shawn Hatosy – currently trying to murder Samara Weaving in the Ready or Not sequel – is night shift attending Dr Jack Abbot.
Other familiar faces include Fiona Douriff – daughter of horror legend Brad (who has a lovely cameo in season one) – as Dr Cassie McKay, one of the residents, along with Supriya Ganesh as fellow resident Dr Samira Mohan, and Taylor Dearden – daughter of Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston – as the very neurodivergent resident Dr Melissa King.
The medical students are played by Australian actor Shabana Azeez as prodigy Victoria Javadi, Isa Briones – Soji from Star Trek: Picard – as Dr Trinity Santos, and Wales’ own Gerran Howell – who’s been everything from Young Dracula to one of David Mitchell’s detectives in Ludwig – sporting a flawless US accent as slightly hapless Dr Dennis Whittaker.
There’s some changes to the cast for season two – but you’ll need to read our reviews to find out what, and why. That’s why they’re spoilers…
Is it any good?
Well, yes. Obviously.
The real-time format, the commitment to realism and the fact being on HBO lets them cut loose with grizzly medical close-ups, gore, political awareness and actual adult language, has given it an edge probably not seen – and bear us out here – since the very early, angry days of the BBC’s Casualty.
That first season deals with Covid and the impact – and trauma – it had on the medical profession. It also deals with medical misinformation, the cost of US healthcare and America’s obsession with guns, leading to a horrific mass casualty incident in later episodes.
That first series has one an insane amount of awards too. In the last few months it’s picked up the Golden Globe, Writer’s Guild of America, Critics Choice, and Emmy awards for best drama, while Wyle, LaNasa and Dearden have picked up best actor and supporting actor awards. As, in fact, has Ifeachor, Ball and Ganesh. The whole cast have picked up awards for best ensemble, and it keeps getting writing and production gongs on an almost weekly basis.
Basically, whoever you fire up Instagram on a Monday morning it seems to be just images of someone from the show winning another award.
But it’s not undeserved. That first season is stunning viewing, and the nature of the format legitimately rewards bingeing it all in one go – even if your nerves won’t thank you. Like Dr Robby, you’ll be desperate to take a break for a piss but the show will just keep getting in your way (this is a legitimate storyline from the start of season one, and never has a man finally being allowed to have a wee felt so narratively satisfying).
We’ve been reviewing the second season on The Spoilist all year. It’s a very different show, with different issues being addressed, but no less great viewing, so once you’ve binged the first season, you can join in with our reviews…
The Pitt is available on HBO Max when it launches in the UK on 26th March
