I remember watching this with family as a teen and enjoying it. Recently noticed it has been added to ITVx and so decided to relive it all.
Nigel Le Vaillant is so good as Paul Dangerfield, such a wholesome character that I'd have loved to have had as a father figure myself! Well, that is aside from how his trauma from losing his wife makes him a workaholic anyway.
I'm currently on series 3 rewatching and I can see why I don't remember any of these episodes up to now. At the end of series 2 Sean Maguire (Marty) and Lisa Faulkner (Al) left. I remember it being really jarring as I hate when main characters are replaced in a show for a start. I just couldn't warm or connect to the replacements at all. Tim Vincent is decent as Marty, if a little wooden...but he just doesn't have the charm and charisma of Sean Maguire so the character feels like it's somebody else entirely. The same can be said for Faulkner's replacement as Al who doesn't come off as very likeable and again feels like a completely different person.
What doesn't help is it feels like EVERYTHING changed after series 2. Series 3 Paul has changed cars, the old DI and DC have also been changed and fellow doctor (and love interest) Joanna Stevens (Amanda Redman) has also left...which makes Paul much less warm and wholesome as a character too. You can feel his sadness pouring out of the screen most of the time which is heavy, but the whole tone of the show has completely changed and feels much darker overall too.
I see from comments here that the show writers changed and this now makes sense to me. I guess I'll keep plugging away at series 3 but I already miss the lightness of series 1 and 2 so am finding it a chore.
I didn't see any of the last 2 series when Dangerfield (Le Vaillant) leaves the show entirely growing up and don't really feel any desire to watch them now but I'll see. How you replace the main character who the show is named after I really don't know.
So to sum up, the first 2 series are fantastic and a definite 8 or 9 as 90's television shows go. From series 3 onwards it feels much more like a 5.
Nigel Le Vaillant is so good as Paul Dangerfield, such a wholesome character that I'd have loved to have had as a father figure myself! Well, that is aside from how his trauma from losing his wife makes him a workaholic anyway.
I'm currently on series 3 rewatching and I can see why I don't remember any of these episodes up to now. At the end of series 2 Sean Maguire (Marty) and Lisa Faulkner (Al) left. I remember it being really jarring as I hate when main characters are replaced in a show for a start. I just couldn't warm or connect to the replacements at all. Tim Vincent is decent as Marty, if a little wooden...but he just doesn't have the charm and charisma of Sean Maguire so the character feels like it's somebody else entirely. The same can be said for Faulkner's replacement as Al who doesn't come off as very likeable and again feels like a completely different person.
What doesn't help is it feels like EVERYTHING changed after series 2. Series 3 Paul has changed cars, the old DI and DC have also been changed and fellow doctor (and love interest) Joanna Stevens (Amanda Redman) has also left...which makes Paul much less warm and wholesome as a character too. You can feel his sadness pouring out of the screen most of the time which is heavy, but the whole tone of the show has completely changed and feels much darker overall too.
I see from comments here that the show writers changed and this now makes sense to me. I guess I'll keep plugging away at series 3 but I already miss the lightness of series 1 and 2 so am finding it a chore.
I didn't see any of the last 2 series when Dangerfield (Le Vaillant) leaves the show entirely growing up and don't really feel any desire to watch them now but I'll see. How you replace the main character who the show is named after I really don't know.
So to sum up, the first 2 series are fantastic and a definite 8 or 9 as 90's television shows go. From series 3 onwards it feels much more like a 5.