Line of Duty fans who find the wait between new series five episodes of the BBC crime thriller too tortuous may want to consider filling up the seven day break between instalments with another drama penned by Jed Mercurio.
Remember Bodies? It was based on the novel by Mercurio – a hospital doctor himself before he became a screenwriter – and debuted on BBC Three back in 2004.
Starring Max Beesley and Patrick Baladi, Bodies followed junior doctor Rob Lake as he uncovered disturbing evidence of negligent practice by his boss, South Central Infirmary obstetrician Roger Hurley.
Neve McIntosh, Keith Allen, Susan Lynch, Nichola Palliser and Tamzin Malleson also featured in the frequently graphic hour-long episodes.
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Seventeen episodes across two series (and a feature-length finale) were broadcast between 2004 and 2006 – and now fans can watch them all again as a boxset on BBC iPlayer.
Mercurio, 52, believes Bodies holds up against his other smash hit shows, like LoD and Bodyguard. Indeed, it may very well be his favourite of his own TV series.
“Bodies remains the drama I’m most proud of,” he says.
“Based on my first novel, it was an extraordinary challenge to produce, as we set ourselves the goal of making the medical sequences as realistic as possible in an era before visual effects had achieved today’s technical prowess.”
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And in keeping with the often brutal tone of Mercurio’s other TV works, Bodies could also be an unforgivable watch – both because of the dark storylines and the gritty humour that was sometimes on display.
Mercurio added: “We pulled no punches in portraying the murky realities of medical negligence and NHS politics that was ground-breaking then and sadly remains relevant to scandals that have continued into the present day.”
Similar to LOD and Bodyguard – which pulled in the Beeb’s biggest audiences for TV drama in a decade last year – Bodies has made its ways onto many critics’ ‘best telly drama’ shortlists.
It also picked up a handful of Royal Television Society awards when it aired.
Could Bodies be your next binge watch?
– Bodies is available to watch on iPlayer
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