A Young Doctor's Notebook (TV series)

A Young Doctor's Notebook
File:Young-Doctors-Notebook-DVD.jpg UK DVD cover showing Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe
Genre	Black comedy
Directed by	Alex Hardcastle (2012) and Robert McKillop (2013)
Starring	Daniel Radcliffe Jon Hamm Adam Godley Vicki Pepperdine Rosie Cavaliero
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	8
Production
Running time	22 minutes (each)
Release
Original network	Sky Arts
Original release	6 December 2012 (2012-12-06) – 12 December 2013 (2013-12-12)
External links
Website

A Young Doctor's Notebook (also known as A Young Doctor's Notebook and Other Stories) is a British dark comedy television series. The series was adapted from the book of short stories A Young Doctor's Notebook by Mikhail Bulgakov. The events take place in Russia over the period of 1917-18, the show tells the story of a doctor looking back on his time practising in a small village hospital and struggling with his progression to morphine addiction. It stars Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe.

Kenton Allen and Jon Hamm are the executive producers.

Originally broadcast by Sky Arts, the show began airing on Ovation on 2 October 2013. Series 2 started on Ovation 19 August 2014.

Season Synopsis

Series 1: A Young Doctor's Notebook

Main article: A Young Doctor's Notebook (season 1)

The first season follows both the elder doctor and his younger self, 16 years earlier (1917). At present, the elder doctor is under investigation for writing prescriptions for morphine for himself, before he descends back into his use of it and his subsequent incarceration as a result. During this time he reads his old diary and recalls his experiences at his first hospital, interjecting himself into the story of his younger manifestation, presumably making efforts to prevent his initial use of morphine.
Episode 4 aired on 27 December 2012.
Episode 3 aired on 20 December 2012.
Episode 2 aired on 13 December 2012.
Episode 1 aired on 6 December 2012.
Series 1 was originally broadcast on Sky Arts on 6–27 December 2012.

Series 2: A Young Doctor's Notebook & Other Stories

Main article: A Young Doctor's Notebook (season 2)

Season 2 of the series focuses specifically on the short story titled 'Morphine' by Bulgakov, but is also dependent on writers for much of the subject matter as most of Bulgakov's works were utilized in the first season. It opens in 1935 with an older, rehabilitated doctor being released from a mental institution and hopping on a train, thinking back to his years as a younger doctor 17 years ago. During this season (which takes place one year later: 1918), the Russian Civil War finally begins to affect the small hospital on the outskirts of Muryevo, as an influx of wounded soldiers from both the Bolsheviks and the White Guard arrives for treatment. Meanwhile, the young doctor is battling an all-encompassing morphine addiction. His older (and no longer drug-addicted) self stands watch over him and a young aristocrat named Natasha arrives in the hospital, in whom Young Doctor takes an intense, destructive interest. At the same time, The Feldsher takes a romantic interest in the Colonel of the White Guard who is also staying in the hospital, leading to the Colonel reciprocating.
Episode 4 aired on 12 December 2013.
Episode 3 aired on 5 December 2013.
Episode 2 aired on 28 November 2013.
Episode 1 aired on 21 November 2013.
Series 2 began 21 November 2013.

Cast and characters

• Daniel Radcliffe/Jon Hamm as Young Doctor and Older Doctor respectively (his full name, though not mentioned often, is Dr. Vladmir Bomgard, and throughout their romantic relationship in the second season, Pelageya refers to him as Nika). (Season 1-2): A doctor shown both as a young man (Radcliffe) and as his older self 16 years later (Hamm). Graduating at the top of his Moscow medical class (at the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry) with "15 5s" on his tests, Young Doctor is assigned his first doctoring job running the village hospital on the outskirts of Russia (Muryevo, in the district of Korobovo) in the winter of 1917 (around the time of the Russian Revolution). He arrives a shiny and idealistic new medical student with no practical experience. In the face of ignorant patients, an endless workload of hopeless cases, little support, a personal illness, and extreme isolation, the Young Doctor quickly degrades into apathy and despair. Older Doctor is currently under investigation, and stumbles upon his Young Doctor's journal. The doctor has interactive conversations between his younger and his older selves, revealing aspects of the story yet to unfold. Young Doctor struggles all the while; gradually descending from chain smoking into morphine addiction, as the Older Doctor fails to prevent his younger self from making the mistakes he currently regrets.
• Adam Godley as Demyan Lukich (The Feldsher) (Season 1-2): Trained as a field doctor, he now practices as Young Doctor's assistant during operations, he is known to smoke a tobacco pipe and is fond of pickled sprats and atlases. Young Doctor views Feldsher as socially inappropriate and annoying, though well-intentioned. During season 2, The Feldsher's romantic gaze falls on a tall, moustached (much like The Feldsher himself) Colonel (played by Charles Edwards) in the White Guard whose troop (along with Natasha) is staying in the hospital for a few weeks. They are both fond of each other, and share a love for pickled sprats. At one point The Feldsher was seen to be bringing him a bouquet of flowers. He is killed during the fighting between Red and White forces near Muryevo.
• Christopher Godwin as Leopold Leopoldovitch (Season 1): Leopold was the much-admired, much-accomplished previous doctor running the Muryevo Hospital. Young Doctor is Leopold's replacement. Leopold only appears in person during a brief psychotic episode, but Leopold's austere presence is constantly reminded to the Young Doctor through comments comparing them by the nursing staff and the several large, foreboding portraits of Leopold sporting a huge beard on the walls of the medical practice. Young Doctor often feels insecure and inadequate when faced with the Leopoldovitch's reputation and skills, which grows into resentful annoyance.
• Rosie Cavaliero as Pelageya Ivanovna (Season 1-2): The brusquely kind junior midwife at the clinic. She and Young Doctor sleep together a number of times during the first season. By the second season this has evolved into a romantic relationship, with Pelageya revealing the doctor's name as Nika. Shortly after Natasha arrives, Nika tells Pelageya that he never loved her, and they separate. Pelageya falls ill with what appears to be typhus, which Nika ignored at first, but was then forced to deal with after she became bedridden. But his preoccupation with Natasha meant that he arrived too late, and she perished (Season 2, Episode 3). In the Season 2 finale, her name is seen on a wooden cross—presumably her tombstone, according to which she had lived from 1889-1918.
• Vicki Pepperdine as Anna (Season 1-2): The senior midwife at the clinic. She is very stern, and treats the Doctor as a child because of his age and inexperience. She has a worshipful fondness for Leopold Leopoldovitch and often compares the Doctor to him or cites his many accomplishments.
• Margaret Clunie as Natasha (Season 2): A beautiful young aristocrat who arrives at the clinic during the war, accompanied by her brother (an injured soldier) and a regiment of the White Guard. The young Doctor finds her attractive and he flirts towards her for a period even though she is preoccupied with her fiancé, Gregory (a physically large general, reminiscent of Leopold Leopoldovitch), who is stationed in Paris. Though he fantasizes about her, and leaves Pelageya to make himself available for her, she views him more as a mother views a child than in a romantic sense. When an injured soldier with news of the 5th Regiment (which Gregory was the general of) came to the hospital, the Doctor used the opportunity to fabricate a story of his death, opening up Natasha for himself. When she comes to know the truth, they have a falling out and she leaves. She later burns to death while the young Doctor steals morphine for himself.

Soundtrack

The music for the series was composed by Stephen Warbeck. It features a strong violin line, a clarinet or oboe, an acoustic guitar, and a cello. The theme song was featured in Sky Arts's "Sky Theme Tunes, Vol. 2".

See also

• The title cards and credits use faux Cyrillic.

Nominations

• Nominated - Magnolia Award for Best Television Film or Miniseries, 19th Shanghai Television Festival (2013)

External links

• Official website
• A Young Doctor's Notebook at IMDb