Doctors writer Darren Rapier on who he would like to see return one last time

Published March 22, 2024 4:43 pm

When it was announced that Doctors had been axed, I put my questions to writers both past and present. One of those is Darren Rapier, who wrote 8 episodes between 2004 and 2018.

With Doctors having wrapped on their final episodes the question now is how will the series end? How do you tie up nearly 25 years of Letherbridge drama?

We asked What storyline in the show’s history has been your favorite to work on?

My personal favorite was an episode called Tuning Out, about a young man with early onset schizophrenia, Darren told us. The flexibility of the show allowed me to use various dramatic techniques, so we could get inside his head, that I don’t think many other shows would have done’.

As for what keeps bringing viewers back to Doctors? Darren said, ‘The Story of the Day element, combined with the serial is very strong. Although Holby had this I think the characters in doctors are much more every day, relatable people. Everyone had been to see their GP, it’s much more down to earth.’

If you had the chance to have any character return to see out the final episodes, who would you like to see one last time?

George (Played by Sterling Gallagher) without any shadow of a doubt, she was a great character and a great actor.

Much like Holby City and The Bill, Doctors has been a big part in the launch career for many both in front and behind the camera, do you see there being anything like Doctors in future where the stars of tomorrow get their first big break in the world of telly?

Not in the current climate, where ‘content’ is considered desirable rather than creativity. All these shows (particularly The Bill, Doctors, and London’s Burning) could take risks and sometimes fail – this is a big part of Doctors – the low budget means you have to be creative and therefore the story is much more important. Unfortunately, execs don’t seem to realize this and think it’s about the casting or using something that’s already tried and tested (like a book) to ‘sell’ a show. The reality is, if the writing is good and the characters interesting then people will invest. It doesn’t have to be about murder; people are capable of caring about everyday things.

One of the big stories in the early days was when show moved from Pebble Mill to Selly Oak, was there any worries about how the audience would take to a new location and how was it behind the scenes?

I started when it was still at Pebble Mill. The great thing there was you could use anywhere, as the studio was shutting down. Around every corner was a bedroom, a hospital room, a police station. This was like making short films every episode. It was about creativity and improvising, which made great TV. Personally I think it lost a bit of that moving to the ‘comfort’ of The Mill and it always felt a bit like it was a cheap production stuck onto the university grounds, rather than an anarchic guerrilla film unit.