9. The Young Doctors
November 1976 March 1983On air: 6 years 4 monthsEpisodes: 1,396 The Young Doctors' disco-inspired theme betrayed its soapy pedigree. Surviving on its steady, if unspectacular, ratings for so long would've been miraculous enough, but The Young Doctors was also cancelled after only 3 months on air. Somehow it had amassed a sufficient fanbase in that time for it to be un-cancelled and it continued for another six years. A mix of established and unknown artists portrayed the doctors, nurses, management and staff of the fictitious Albert Memorial Hospital. Among the early cast was a young Cornelia Frances as the ghastly Matron Scott, who met an untimely demise after stepping through lift doors before the lift had actually arrived - as you do. As the mean matron tore strips off one of her nurses, she plummeted to her death at the bottom of the lift shaft. Far more soapy than straight-faced drama, The Young Doctors was unlikely to concern itself with actual medical procedures. Staff frequently entered and emerged from operating theatres or briefly tended to patients with few obvious signs of injury or illness, but storylines typically revolved around the private lives of the staff, with only occasional token references to patients. Doors and walls wobbled, booms came into shot and virtually everything that ever happened took place in one operating theatre, one patient ward, one L-shaped hallway, a couple of offices, at Ada Simmons' kiosk or in the wine bar across the road. The Young Doctors never won a single award for anything, although apparently it achieved something of a cult following in the UK. Perhaps that was prize enough.