When Television was in its infancy and executive’s were looking for new shows to produce a rich seam presented itself in the shape of the medical drama. What better way to sell the new idea of Television by featuring a handsome young Doctor sorting out lots of medical ailments. Thus Dr Kildare was created, featuring one of the most iconic and memorable theme tunes ever. If things got too busy for Kildare’s workload he could always call on a locum to help him out. Locum Insurance is a necessity and as long as they had it from MPRS Locum Insurance Kildare was covered as well.
To begin with the character of Kildare (Richard Chamberlain) is new to the fictional Blair General Hospital. He is just an intern and needs to learn the skills to make him a good Doctor. He tries his best to impress the Senior Doctor (Raymond Massey), a theme that is lampooned and acknowledged in the show Scrubs, with varying degrees of success.
However Kildare starts to question the senior when he is told “Our work is to keep people alive. We can’t tell them how to live any more than how to die.” Kildare begins to be more involved with his patients and tries to find out what has led them to the hospital and to perhaps help them in ways beyond medicine. As a result in the shows later years the episodes shift the focus away from Kildare and begins to concentrate on the patients back story and then how the empathic Kildare is able to treat them. This build up is now the basis for the series Casualty.
