The Young Doctors

This article is about the soap opera. For the 1961 film, see The Young Doctors (film).

The Young Doctors
Genre	Soap opera
Created by	Alan Coleman
Developed by	Reg Watson
Written by	Alan Coleman Reg Watson Betty Quin Ian Coughlan Ian Bradley Patrea Smallacombe Tom MacLennen Michael Laurence Brenda Little Tony Morphett Peter Connah Cheryl McLennand Ron McLean Julian Halls Richard Lane Jeff Ashby Rick Maier John Misto Cheridith Mok Roger Hudson Ben Mitchell Helen Carmichael John Paramor Sue Smith Sue Masters David Phillips Craig Wilkins Brian Faull Margaret Hilton-Blundell
Directed by	Alan Coleman Reg Watson Ian Coughlan Max Varnel David C. Wilson Brian Faull Peita Letchford Kendal Flanagan Chris Adshead Mike Murphy Chris Connelly Michael Pattinson Phillip Bowman Rusty Buckley Denny Lawrence Wayne Cameron
Starring	(see detailed cast and character list below)
Theme music composer	Alan Olivan / Brian King
Opening theme	The Young Doctors, performed by The Executives
Ending theme	The Young Doctors, performed by The Executives
Composer	Olivan/King
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	1,397 (60 minute pilot episode and 1,396 30-minute episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Reg Watson
Producers	Alan Coleman Sue Masters
Production locations	The Film Centre, North Sydney
Running time	25 minutes
Production company	Reg Grundy Organisation
Original release
Network	Nine Network
Release	8 November 1976 (1976-11-08) – 30 March 1983 (1983-03-30)
Related
Starting Out

The Young Doctors is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday 8 November 1976 until Wednesday 30 March 1983. The series is primarily set in the fictional Albert Memorial Hospital, as well as the restaurant/nightclub Bunny's Place, and is fundamentally concerned with the romances and relations between younger members of the hospital staff, rather than typical medical issues and procedures.

The program was shown and exported internationally including throughout North America and Canada and Europe including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France and Spain.

Series history

Early years

The series produced by the Grundy Organisation was created and devised by Alan Coleman with Reg Watson acting as Executive Producer.

Watson had been the Producer of the British TV soap opera Crossroads from 1964 to 1973 and he moved back to Australia to help set up a new drama department within the Reg Grundy Organisation, which at the time, was better known for its game and quiz shows. With Coleman producing, as well as Watson's experience of making fast-turnaround, five-days a week serial drama, The Young Doctors became the third soap opera produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation following the Seven Network's serials Class of 74 / 75, and Until Tomorrow, which screened briefly in 1975.

The Young Doctors began in November 1976, a week earlier than another new soap opera on Network Nine, The Sullivans, which was produced by Crawford Productions. The Nine Network made it clear only one of the series would be commissioned beyond the initial 13-week production run (approximately 65 episodes).

The Sullivans, which had a three times greater budget, after the trial period emerged as the critical success, so The Young Doctors was cancelled.

Fans however lobbied the Nine Network, who then reversed their decision and by popular demand The Young Doctors continued in its daily 6.00 pm slot and had a successful run of six and a half years, making it one of Australia's longest running and popular serials of the time.

Later years

The Young Doctors long-serving cast members began to leave, so during the final season in 1982–83, many new characters were added in an attempt to modernise and refresh the long-running serial.

Producer and co-creator Alan Coleman also left in early 1982, and was replaced by Sue Masters twelve months before the series finished production in late November 1982. Masters went on to produce Grundy's replacement medical soap, Starting Out, for Nine, and then Grundy's stablemate, Prisoner, from 1983.

Several cast members after the series ended production went on to have leading roles in cult series Prisoner including Judy McBurney, Genevieve Lemon, Babs McMillan, Tottie Goldsmith and Peter Bensley.

The loss of several popular cast members had contributed to a sharp decline in ratings, and as a consequence of this, the series was cancelled in late 1982. The advent of one-day cricket had led to the Nine Network moving the show around the schedules, particularly in Sydney where it was first moved to 5pm weekdays and, after its cancellation was announced, broadcasts were reduced to a weekly hour-long episode late on Saturday afternoons from November 1982.

When the series ended after 1397 episodes, it held the record of Australia's longest-running commercial television drama serial. This was later surpassed by A Country Practice and then Neighbours, which is currently the longest-running Australian drama serial. The Young Doctors also holds the distinction, rare among long-running Australian dramas, of having never won any sort of television award.

The Young Doctors final episode aired on 30 March 1983 at 18:00 in Melbourne and on 15 October 1983 at 17:30 in Sydney.

Stories and settings

Albert Memorial Hospital

Despite the hospital setting, medical procedures rarely featured in storylines, with the majority of the stories and plots focusing more on the personal lives, romances and dramas of the staff. All scenes were played out in the various sets forming the Albert Memorial Hospital. A memorial plaque situated on the wall of the studio set of the hospital's exterior stated the hospital opened in 1889 and it is also established early in the series that the fictional Albert Memorial is located in a Sydney district, with Sydney generically referred to as 'the City'.

A "real life" Albert Memorial Hospital, commonly referred to as the A. M. Hospital was located in Wollongong, and commenced operation in 1864, however closed when the Wollongong Hospital opened in 1907.

The most regularly seen set was the large hospital's entrance lobby containing a reception desk, refreshments kiosk, a lift and stairs to the upper floors, and swinging double-doors that led into the casualty department. Various wards, offices, theatres and small medicine labs all saw an equal amount of romantic and dramatic action over the years. Alan Coleman revealed on a DVD release of the series that the various 'flats' used as sets were simply re-dressed with different hospital equipment and furniture giving the Albert Memorial a sense of monotony often associated with clinical, hospital environments.

Later in The Young Doctors run, location shooting became more frequent and viewers saw more of the hospital's exterior and grounds. Scenes filmed outside the hospital now showed modern, 1960s era buildings, presumably extensions to the original Victorian hospital. Exterior shots were filmed at the real life Royal North Shore Hospital and the former Greenwich Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, which was used for later exterior shots. There was also a Chapel located in the hospital grounds which was filmed on a few occasions, most notably when Julie Holland was shot at the altar on her Wedding day to Dr Russell Edwards. With location shooting so rare, a trip to Melbourne for a travelogue-style Wedding and tour of the city was an extravagant way to celebrate Liz Kennedy's marriage to Dr John Forrest in 1981.

Bunny's Place

There was also a local bar Bunny's Place which was another venue for the staff to mingle. The bar was originally owned by, and named after, Bunny Howard, played by comedian, Ugly Dave Gray, who was killed off in an early episode. Bunny's Place was said to be situated on the opposite side of the busy main road to the hospital. After Bunny died, Edna Curtis (Vivienne Benson-Young) ran the bar for a while, until Annemarie Austin (Judi Connelli) took over a year later. Dr Mike Newman (Peter Bensley) later took over the ownership of Bunny's. Although the bar's exterior was never shown on-screen, its interior regularly featured in many episodes for the duration of the 6+1⁄2-year series, appearing in both the first and final episodes.

Cast and characters

Early characters

The Young Doctors had a relatively high turnover of young cast playing the doctors and nurses who featured alongside a more stable roster of longer-running elder cast members. The serial also featured many well-known Australian actors appearing in their earliest roles.

Cultural impact

Although The Young Doctors was obviously low-budget and the limitations of the fast-turnaround production schedule sometimes crept into the programme, it was immensely popular during the late 1970s in Australia. One highlight episode of this period was the Wedding Day of Tania (Judy McBurney) to Tony Garcia (Tony Alvarez) in March 1978. The producers splashed out on an OB unit, and a rare church wedding took place with the wedding photos gracing all of the week's TV magazine covers. In a 2006 interview, Judy McBurney, who played Tania, commented; "I thought Young Doctors was a beautiful show. I felt it was innocent, sweet, and a good show...and I think that's why people remember it".

One of the programmes most popular doctors was Ben Fielding, played by Eric Oldfield. He was also Male Model of the Year in 1977 and became the second man to appear naked in a centre spread for Cleo magazine whilst appearing in the show. The actor fondly recalls the photo shoot on a reunion documentary available on both the Umbrella and ViaVision DVD releases, where he describes the pictures as "taboo" because "it wasn't acceptable back then for men to be taking all their clothes off". Oldfield also commented that the pictures have since garnered a popular cult following amongst gay men.

Another notable actor, a very young Russell Crowe, appeared in his first acting role in The Young Doctors. In an episode originally aired in 1977, appropriately, he played a young boy called Russell.

During the 1970s, a number of actors appearing in the show also had singing careers, preempting a similar fad for "singing soap stars" a decade later with another Grundy soap opera, Neighbours. Early episodes featured singers including Jewel Blanch, Mark Hembrow, Bartholomew John, Mark Holden and Judi Connelli. Possibly due to the fast production schedule, and filming six months in advance of transmission dates, contemporary cultural references are rare in The Young Doctors, however, in a very early 1977 episode, Sister Gibbs briskly remarks; "...casualty is busier than an ABBA concert today". The reference to ABBA is likely due to the fact that their 1977 film, Abba: The Movie, was at the same time being produced by Reg Grundy Productions.

Also extremely popular in the United Kingdom, the success of The Young Doctors here is notable because it didn't air in Britain contemporaneously with Australian broadcasts. Most ITV regions did not start showing it until after it had ended in Australia in March 1983. It therefore looked somewhat dated compared with more recent Australian serials that were airing at the same time (namely, Sons and Daughters), nevertheless, it became so popular, a fan club was formed, which was active for several years well into the 1990s.

Awards

Organisation	Category	Year	Results
Australian Film and Television Awards	Best Drama Award	1978	Nominated
Australian Film and Television Awards	Best Actor in a TV Series	1978	Nominated Tim Page for portrayal of Dr. Graham Steele
Australian Film and Television Awards	Best Actress in a TV series	1978	Nominated Joanne Samuel for portrayal of Jill Gordon
Sammy Awards	Gold Sammy	1978	Nominated Cornelia Frances for portrayal of Sister/Matron Grace Scott
Sammy Awards	Gold Sammy	1978	Nominated Delvene Delaney for portrayal of Jo Jo Adams
Australian Film and Television Awards	Best Drama	1979	Nominated
Australian Film and Television Awards	Best Actor in a TV Series	1979	Nominated Peter Lochran for portrayal of Dr. Peter Holland
Sammy Awards	Golden Sammy	1979	Nominated Diana McLean
Sammy Awards	Golden Sammy	1979	Nominated Peter Lochran
Sammy Awards	Golden Sammy	1979	Nominated Joanne Samuel
Australian Film and TV Awards	Best Drama Series	1980	Nominated

Cornelia Frances on the DVD release audio commentary for episode 325 titled, Classic Cliffhangers, that she lost out on the Logie Award for Best Actress for two consecutive years to Lorraine Bayly, who played Grace Sullivan in The Sullivans, which also beat The Young Doctors as Best Drama in 1978, 1979 and 1980.

Regular cast

There was consistently a core cast of 16 regular characters in The Young Doctors, with all cast members contracted to appear in three out of a block of five episodes each week. Sometimes, a regular character would not be seen on-screen for several weeks and there is an obvious rotation of recurring characters whom came and went as script requirements permitted. More often than not, a departing regular character would simply disappear from the screen, but their presence in the serial would be maintained by regular scripted references to the character being elsewhere in the hospital, or, as Cornelia Frances described it, "stuck in a cupboard for weeks", but, always off screen.

Doctors

Actor	Doctor	Duration
Tim Page	Dr. Graham Steele	1976–83 Original cast
Alfred Sandor	Dr. Raymond Shaw	1976–83 Original cast
Michael Beecher	Dr. Brian Denham	1976–83 Original cast
John Dommett	Dr. Jim Howard	1976–79 Original cast
Mark Holden	Dr. Greg Mason	1976–77, 1981 Original cast
John Walton	Dr. Craig Rothwell	1976–77 Original cast
Peta Toppano	Dr. Gail Henderson	1976–78 Original cast
Robert Coleby	Dr. Paul Barratt	1977
Judy Lynne	Dr. Susan Richards	1977–80
Barry Creyton	Dr. John Somerville	1977
Brian Moll	Dr. Vincent Snape	1977–79
Tony Alvarez	Dr. Tony Garcia	1977–79
Bartholomew John	Dr. Chris Piper	1977–79
Paul Mason	Dr. Mike Neilson	1977
Andrew Sharp	Dr. Andrew Baxter	1977–78
Veronica Lang	Dr. Lesley Collins	1978
Gordon McDougall	Dr. Crewe	1978-79
Tim Elliot	Professor William Hume	1978
Kevin Wilson	Dr. David Meredith	1978
Eric Oldfield	Dr. Ben Fielding	1978–82
Peter Lochran	Dr. Peter Holland	1978–82
Chris Orchard	Dr. Rod Langley	1978–80
Rebecca Gilling	Dr. Liz Kennedy	1979–81
Alan Dale	Dr. John Forrest	1979–83
Serge Lazareff	Dr. Ian Parrish	1979
Peter Bensley	Dr. Mike Newman	1979–83
Eileen Colocott	Dr. Marion Stoddard	1979
Mike Dorsey	Dr. Clifford Langley	1979
John Hamblin	Dr. Dan Wheatley	1979, 1981
Peter Cousens	Dr. Russell Edwards	1980–81
Joy Chambers	Dr. Robyn Porter	1980–81
Carole Skinner	Dr. Judith Anne Napier (aka Dr. Hall)	1980-81
Vince Martin	Dr. Richard Quinlan	1981–82
Raina McKeon	Dr. Martha Ahmed	1981–82
Adrian Van Den Bok	Dr. Nick Barratt	1982–83
Michael Gow	Dr. Lance Wilkinson	1982
Nick Holland	Dr. Matt Burke	1982
Graham Harvey	Dr. David Henderson	1982–83
John O’Brien	Dr. Ian Mitchell	1982–83
Sally Tayler	Dr Vicki Daniels	1982–83
Carole Skinner	Dr Judith Ann Napier	1980

Sisters

Actor	Sister	Duration
Cornelia Frances	Sister/Matron Grace Scott	1976–79 Original cast
Susanne Stuart	Sister Suzanne Gibbs	1976 extra 1977–83 regular
Jeannie Drynan	Sister Margaret Evans	1977
Judy McBurney	Sister/Nurse Tania Livingstone	1977–83
Anne Lucas	Sister Eve Turner	1977-80
Sheila D'Union	Spinal Unit Sister	1977
Diana McLean	Sister Vivienne Jeffries	1978–82
Babs McMillan	Sister Erin Cosgrove	1982–83
Helen Scott (as Helen Hough)	Sister Norma Campbell	1981
Doug McGrath	Matron Duncan Love	1981

Nurses

Actor	Nurse	Duration
Delvene Delaney	Jo Jo Adams	1976–77 Original cast
Margaret Nelson	Julie Warner	1976–77 Original cast
Joanne Samuel	Jill Gordon	1976–79 Original cast
Kathryn Dagher	Kelly Jones	1977
Gregory Apps	Martin Price	1977, 1978–79
Paula Duncan	Lisa Brooks	1977-78
Louise Howitt	Deborah Kendall	1977
Ros Wood	Kate Rhodes	1977–82
Lynda Stoner	Kim Barrington	1977–79
Lisa Aldenhoven	Julie Holland	1978–81
Rosie Bailey	Virginia Mason	1978–81
Debbie Baile	Vicki Rayner	1978–79
Robyn Gibbes	Angela Parry	1978
Kim Krejus	Sally Brown	1978
Carla Hoogeveen	Jeanette Palmer	1978
Karen Pini	Sherry Andrews	1979–82
Margaret Laurence	Yvonne Davies	1979
Julie Wilson	Jodie Carter	1980–81
Jackie Woodburne	Maggie Gordon	1981–82
Christine Harris	Dolly Davis	1982–83
Julie Nihill	Linda Wilson	1982–83
Susan Stenmark	Genevieve Ridgeway	1982–83
Genevieve Lemon	Zelda Baker	1983
Julianne White	Diana Trent	1983

Hospital staff

Actor	Role	Duration
Gwen Plumb	Ada Simmonds	1976–83 Original cast
Lyn James	Helen Gordon	1976–83 Original cast
Chris King	Dennis Jamison	1976–82 Original cast
Kim Wran	Caroline Fielding	1977, 1978–82
Robert Leys	Mark Holland	1978–80
Harold Hopkins	Terry Cooper	1978
Kent Strickland	Damian Swift	1979
Robert Korosy	Flint Stone	1981–83
Tottie Goldsmith	Toni Sheffield	1982–83
Stephen McDonald	Tim Jones	1982-83

Other cast and characters

• Laura Denham – Joanna Moore-Smith (1976–77) Original cast (1979-80) Recurring
• 'Bunny' Howard – Ugly Dave Gray (1976) Original cast, to episode 43
• Edna Curtis – Vivienne Benson-Young (1976–77) Original cast
• Roger Gordon - Ric Herbert ( 1976–78) Recurring
• Frank Curtis - Iain Finlay (1976)
• Toby Denham – Greg Kelly (1976–77)
• Abbie Singleton - Jewel Blanch (1976)
• Maureen Howard - Virginia Rudeno (1976–77)
• Ric Martin – Gerry Sont (1978)
• Rosalie Parker – Carol Raye (1976–77)
• Arthur Simmonds – Willie Fennell (recurring, 1977–78)
• Dot Warner - Shirley Cameron (1977)
• Russell – Russell Crowe (1977)
• Hilary Templeton – Abigail (1977, 1978)
• Philip Winter – Noel Trevarthen (1977)
• Georgie Saint – Mark Hembrow (1977, 1978, 1979)
• Milt Baxter - Mark Hashfield (1977)
• Sir Thomas Kendall - James Condon (1977)
• Mrs Nielsen - June Salter (1977)
• Irene Hardy - Anne Semler (1977)
• Glenda Stacey - Julieanne Newbould (1977)
• Ben Stone - John Jarratt (1977)
• Annemarie Austin – Judi Connelli (1977–78)
• Sandy Pearce – Anna Hruby (1977–78)
• Rene Brooks – Moya O'Sullivan (1977)
• Clarrie Baker - Tony Adams (1977)
• Vicky Clayton - Bronwen Samuel (1977)
• Cora Clayton - Tina Grenville (1977)
• Erika Hoffman – Karen Petersen (1978–80)
• Amelia Frost – Enid Lorimer (1978)
• Roxanne Moore - Harriet Littlesmith (1978)
• Moira Callaghan – Hilda Scurr (1978)
• Edward Gordon – Brian Harrison (1978–79)
• Deirdre Snape - Elizabeth Kemp (1979)
• Kevin McAllister – Vincent Ball (1979)
• David McAllister – Simon Burke (1979)
• Roland Perry – Wallas Eaton (1979–80)
• Lois Norton – Penne Hackforth-Jones (1979)
• Mrs Newman – June Collis (1979, 1981)
• Ken Hansen – Joe Hasham (1979)
• Steve Newman – Kit Taylor (1979, 1981–82)
• Sylvia Marcus – Carmen Duncan (1979)
• Sophie Bertram – Betty Lucas (1979)
• Douglas Kennedy – Bill Kerr (1980)
• Rachel Thorpe – Ros Wood (1980)
• Hazel Kennedy – Jessica Noad (1980)
• Arthur Shepherd – Ron Shand (1981)
• Pippa Blake – Benita Collings (1982)
• Mrs Wilson – Mary Ward (1982)
• Ted Wilcox – Frank Lloyd (1993)

International broadcasts

The relatively long-running serial also achieved modest international cult success, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it was broadcast on the ITV network. It also aired in New Zealand, France and Spain.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the programme was acquired by 13 of the 14 weekday members of the ITV Network, while Scottish Television never purchased the series although Ulster, Grampian and Border did. Most of the ITV regions screened The Young Doctors at their own regional pace, starting in January 1982.

• Central Television pioneered the programme in a Tuesday and Thursday 12:30 slot from Tuesday 19 January 1982, but during the year, moved to Monday and Tuesdays at 15:45, sharing the slot with the then seasonal Scottish soap opera, Take the High Road, which had started in 1980. In January 1983, episodes increased to daily at 15:30 until Sons and Daughters began in February. These two serials then shared this timeslot for well over four years, with The Young Doctors always airing on Mondays and Tuesdays. This continued until September 1987 when a revamp of ITV's daytime schedule saw Central return the programme to 12:00 noon, and then 12:35, thus allowing both The Young Doctors and Sons and Daughters to increase to four or five episodes a week in their revised respective slots. Following the end of Sons and Daughters in December 1988, The Young Doctors returned to 15:30 during Christmas week, and usually aired Tuesday to Friday until Families began in April 1990, which took the Monday and Tuesday 15:30 slot. The Young Doctors was finally moved to 14:50-15:20, Monday to Thursday later in 1990, and finished on Tuesday 18 August 1992, the first ITV region to complete all of the series.
• HTV started the series on Tuesday 4 January 1983 and continued regularly twice weekly. Initially broadcast Mondays and Fridays at 17:15-17:45, it was soon moved to 15:30-16:00 on Mondays and Tuesdays and finished on 18 April 1994.
• Granada Television and Border Television both broadcast daily episodes five days a week from September 1983. From January 1984, this was reduced to three weekly episodes, Wednesday to Friday (new acquisition Sons and Daughters being shown on Monday and Tuesday) where it remained until the Wednesday episode was dropped in October 1989. During the month of August on some years Granada and Border would pause the series for the summer month. Both regions overtook Central for several years, however, they ultimately finished the series after Central on April 2nd 1993 at 15:20.
• Anglia Television started on 3 September 1984, going out Mondays and Tuesdays at 15:30 until 17 April 1990; then changed to Wednesdays and Thursdays from 25 April 1990. It was then moved to Thursdays and Fridays from Friday 6 July 1990 and an additional Wednesday episode returns in January 1991. Then Mondays to Fridays from January 1992 and finally, Thursdays and Fridays at 13:55 until Friday 2 June 1995.
• Thames Television and LWT started screening the series initially at 17:15 on Thursdays and Fridays from 23 June 1983 until 1 September 1984, before switching the series to 15:30 slot, to allow Blockbusters the slot. From this point onwards, only Thames broadcast the series. When Carlton Television took over in January 1993, the series was dropped for six months to allow backlog of Blockbusters episodes to be aired, The Young Doctors returned daily on 7 June 1993 concluding the programme as an 80 minute special from 13:55 on Friday 30 December 1994.
• Grampian Television started on Monday 14 November 1983, increased to four episodes per week by 1991, and finished on Friday 30 September 1994.
• TVS started on Monday 9 April 1984 broadcasting Mondays and Tuesdays 15:30; In May switched; Mondays to Wednesdays 17:15 for summer 1984; then Thursdays and Fridays 15:30 from early September 1984; then Mondays to Wednesdays from January 1985 until Wednesday 2 September 1987; then Wednesdays and Thursdays at 12:00 noon; then Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays used from 4 January 1988 15.30; then Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 25 April 1990. TVS lost their franchise at the end of 1992 but their successor, Meridian continued to show the series (more information on the timeslot required) and completed the run on 8 July 1993.
• Tyne Tees Television began the series on Monday 1 October 1984 and aired Mondays and Tuesdays 15:30 until 17 April 1990. It was then moved to Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 14:00 from 25 April 1990. From Thursday 3 January 1991 moves to 15:20 Thursdays and Fridays. A Wednesday episode was added from 23 January 1991, and then from January 1992, it is broadcast Mondays to Fridays at 15:20. From Monday 4 January 1993, Tyne Tees and Yorkshire screened the programme daily at 15:20. From January 1994 until the end in December of that year, this changed to Monday – Thursday at 14.50.
• TSW started the series on 1 April 1985, Monday and Fridays at 17:15 until 8 July, when it was moved to 15.30 slot. On 17 October 1988, the series moves to 12:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays but due to TSW choosing to screen the daily afternoon repeat of Home and Away at 15:25 this resulted in the series becoming weekly during 1989/1990 at 13:30 however returned to twice a week by the end of 1990. Westcountry Television took over in 1993, and continued twice a week until early 1994 when it was increased to three times a week until 20 December 1995 when episode 1101 was broadcast. The series was not completed.
• Years after most of the other regions Yorkshire Television started the series in June 1988, going out five times a week at 12:30, reducing to three times a week from January 1989. In September 1989, the series moved to 15:25 daily with the Wednesday episode dropped from October. In April 1990, the series output is further reduced to two episodes a week on Thursdays and Fridays before the resumption of the Wednesday episode in early 1991. During 1992, the series fluctuates between three, four and five episodes a week ending the year on episode 764. In January 1993, they had to skip 215 episodes to enable them to catch up to Tyne Tees, as from January 1993, both regions screened exactly the same material. It aired daily at 15:20, until January 1994 when the Friday episode was dropped until the series ended on Thursday 15 December 1994.
• The Young Doctors was also aired on Sky Channel. On Monday 6 February 1989, the first episode was broadcast 17:00–17:30. From 6 July 1989, it was moved to 15.15–15.45 (to make way for Sky Star Search which took the 17:00–18:00 slot). 256 episodes were broadcast in these slots. In February 1990, now called Sky One, the channel dropped another Australian soap, The Sullivans, from their mid-morning schedule, so from 5 February 1990, The Young Doctors rewound back to the first episode (due to almost catching up with some ITV regions, and having overtaken by Yorkshire Television), and it was aired now 10:30-11:00. Sky One eventually cancelled The Young Doctors just over two years later, at episode 589, which aired on Friday 29 May 1992.

ITV Ulster commenced the series in 1984, with a very slow broadcasting rate, they hit episode 40 in around 1988! They were still showing episodes in the 300s in 1993. They dropped the series in 1993/4.

ITV region in start date order

Air dates of significant episodes

ep 40 Grace at the altar

ep 227 Graham and Eve marry

ep 256 1977 cliffhanger

ep 281 Tony and Tania marry

ep 327 Arrival of Jeffries

ep 469 1978 cliffhanger

ep 474 Raymond and Erica marry

ep 529 aftermath of Barrington shooting

episode 679 Liz and Ben wedding aftermath

ep 717 Dennis and Caroline marry

ep 872 1980 cliffhanger

episode 1000

ep 1019 John and Liz marry

ep 1077 1981 cliffhanger

Central Television

Tue 15/06/82 12:30

Mon 17/12/84 15:30

Mon 24/06/85 15:30

Mon 15/12/86 15:30

Tue 30/12/86 15:45

Tue 28/07/87 15:30

Fri 05/08/88 12:35

Thu 08/06/89 15:30

Tue 19/12/89 15:30

Fri 26/01/90 15:30

HTV (Wales & West)

Mon 01/08/83 17:15

Mon 16/12/85 15:30

Mon 18/01/88 15:30

Mon 07/08/89 15:30

Tue 19/12/89 15:30

Thames Television

Thu 17/11/83 17:15

Tue 18/11/86 15:30

Mon 09/05/88 15:30

Mon 12/12/88 15:30

Tue 02/08/90 15:25

Fri 17/07/92 15:20

Granada Television

Tue 01/11/83 15:30

Thu 13/12/84 15:30

Wed 06/03/85 15:30

Fri 03/05/85 15:30

Fri 23/08/85 15:30

Fri 12/09/86 15:30

Thu 25/09/86 15:30

Wed 11/02/87 15:30

Fri 29/01/88 15:30

Thu 28/04/88 15:30

Thu 27/04/89 15:30

Fri 06/07/90 15:25

Border Television

Tue 01/11/83 15:30

Thu 13/12/84 15:30

Wed 06/03/85 15:30

Fri 03/05/85 15:30

Fri 23/08/85 15:30

Fri 12/09/86 15:30

Thu 25/09/86 15:30

Wed 11/02/87 15:30

Fri 29/01/88 15:30

Thu 28/04/88 15:30

Thu 27/04/89 15:30

Fri 06/07/90 15:25

Grampian Television

Wed 01/02/84 15:30

Mon 30/01/89 15:30

Thu 12/11/92 15:20

Ulster Television (UTV)

1988

Mon 21/02/94 14:50

Not screened

Not screened

Not screened

Not screened

Not screened

Not screened

Not screened

Not screened

Not screened

Television South (TVS)

Wed 01/08/84 15:30

Mon 06/03/89 15:30

Fri 09/06/89 15:30

Thu 12/09/91 13:50

Anglia Television

Tue 05/02/85 15:30

Tue 20/01/87 15:30

Mon 18/05/87 15:30

Mon 17/08/87 15:30

Mon 08/02/88 15:30

Mon 31/07/89 15:30

Tue 15/08/89 15:30

Thu 14/01/93 15:20

Wed 10/02/93 15:20

Tyne Tees Television

Tue 05/03/85 15:30

Tue 23/06/87 15:30

Tue 22/09/87 15:30

Mon 14/03/88 15:30

Tue 05/09/89 15:30

Mon 25/09/89 15:30

Tue 17/04/90 15:30

Tue 02/02/93 15:20

Mon 01/03/93 15:20

Television South West (TSW)

Mon 17/10/88 12:30

Mon 04/12/89 13:30

Thu 01/06/95 14:25

Channel Television

Mon 06/03/89 15:30

Fri 09/06/89 15:30

Thu 12/09/91 13:50

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Tue 02/08/88 12:30

Mon 07/08/89 12:30

Mon 02/10/89 15:30

Mon 05/02/90 15:30

Not screened

Tue 02/02/93 15:20

Mon 01/03/93 15:20

• The longest amount of time that passed for an episode to be first shown and its last showing was the first half hour of the pilot. It was first screened by Central on Tuesday 19 January 1982 at 12.30 and eventually aired on YTV nearly six and a half years later on Monday 6 June 1988 at 12.30.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, The Young Doctors was aired on TV2. On Monday 22 February 1982, the first episode was broadcast at 5.30pm. From 19 July 1982, it was moved to the 6pm slot. To make way for Sons and Daughters, the series was moved from 6pm to a 'double episode' format at 6.30pm on a Tuesday and Wednesday evening from 11 February 1986. It reverted to half hour, weekday episodes in the 5.15pm slot from 4 August until 12 December 1986, and then to double episodes in the 5.05-5.55pm slot from 15 December 1986 until 6 February 1987. From 9 February 1987, the series was moved to TV One and reverted to half hour episodes at 5.15pm. The final episode was broadcast on Wednesday 27 May 1987.

Remake

In November 2007, the Nine Network announced plans to remake the series in conjunction with FremantleMedia. Originally, it was set to be broadcast in 2008 but due to script delays, the premiere date had been pushed back to 2009. The remake was set to be named Young Doctors (minus "The"). However, at the end of 2008, the Nine Network officially passed on the idea. The network decided against the remake, instead, confirming a second series of the popular Australian drama Underbelly. FremantleMedia is currently searching for another television station to contract the programme.

Home media

Selected episodes of the serial were released on DVD in October 2006, under the title of The Best Romances. A second set of selected episodes, under the title of Classic Cliffhangers, was released in February 2008. In 1994, prior to the DVDs, a VHS was edited in the UK by "NTV entertainment" collecting episodes A, B (pilots) & 1.

On 16 June 2021, ViaVision Entertainment released the first 250 episodes of the series in a 35 disc set which consisted of all episodes screened in 1976 and 1977.

Title	Format	Ep #	Discs/Tapes	Region 4 (Australia)	Special Features	Distributors
The Young Doctors	VHS	3	1	1994	None
The Young Doctors: 30th Anniversary	DVD	12	2	6 November 2006	Reunion Audio Commentary Stills Gallery Umbrella Trailers	Umbrella Entertainment
The Young Doctors: Classic Cliffhangers	DVD	12	2	2 February 2008	Audio Commentary Umbrella Trailers	Umbrella Entertainment
The Young Doctors Collection 1	DVD	1-250	35	16 June 2021	Reunion; Ada's cookbook	ViaVision Entertainment

External links

• The Young Doctors at IMDb
• Aussie Soap Archive: The Young Doctors — Overview and Review
• Documentary celebrating 30 year anniversary, with cast interviews
• The Young Doctors at the National Film and Sound Archive