“Vibrant
with the exotic heartbeat of
India and centring around the lives
and loves of the medical staff and
patients at a hospital in a fabulous
Southern coastal town where nobody,
tourists or locals, is turned away no
matter how poor they are, the television
drama series The Good Karma Hospital
is highly compulsive viewing...” THROWING OPEN ITS DOORS to anyone and everyone in need of medical treatment,
The Good Karma Hospital has seen better days and suffers from a lack of funding;
but the overworked staff do their best in the colourful, amusing and compulsively
dramatic television series of the same name.
Run by dogmatic and delightfully eccentric Dr Lydia Fonseca (heading the wealth
of great acting talent, a marvellously on-form Amanda Redman: New Tricks),
who is quite a character with an interesting past, the hospital more than lives
up to its name.
“The
Good Karma
Hospital serves up a
healthy dose of
colourful, amusing and
compulsive television
drama at its finest...”
Lydia
had applied for a position at a world class clinic but was posted to the obscure
rural hospital. She is secretly seeing local laid-back beach bar owner Greg
McConnell (Neil Morrissey: Line Of Duty).
Newly arrived from the UK is junior doctor Ruby Walker (Amrita Acharia: Game
Of Thrones), trying to move on from a broken relationship and despite a
willingness to learn she finds she is sometimes woefully ill-equipped to fulfil
all the demands made of her.
She clashes with Lydia over her opinionated views and with dishy doctor Dr Gabriel
Varma (James Floyd), who is dedicated and kind-hearted and harbours a growing
attraction for Ruby.
Senior doctor Ram Nair (Darshaw Jariwalla) has a strong sense of justice and
is sometimes disappointed with his son AJ (Sagar Radia), the paramedic and ambulance
driver who can become very distracted by young female tourists. He also has
a huge disappointment in store when an old friend and former colleague covers
up a hit-and-run incident.
Maggie Smart (Phyllis Logan), following a diagnosis of a brain tumour, has been
taken on a trip to India by her husband Paul (Philip Jackson), who believes
that they will return home for Maggie to have further treatment. But Maggie
has fallen in love with India, where she believes she would be happier living
out whatever life she has left.
The Good Karma Hospital has to be prepared for every eventuality: a man rescued
from the sea who appears to have amnesia; a celebrity who demands prescribed
drugs she doesn't really need; a nun who seems to be carrying a child she claims
is an immaculate conception; a young boy who could be malnourished; a snake-catcher
who needs the antidote that has run out; an abandoned baby boy; a man who may
lose his leg thanks to a hit-and-run driver; and Dr Fonseca's former boyfriend,
a wacky artist who spends most of his time naked and has pneumonia —
a condition from which his little pet monkey is also suffering.
Set against a backdrop of the amazing continent of India with its sacred cows,
tuk-tuks, highly dangerous driving, festive ceremonies and religious rites,
The Good Karma Hospital serves up a healthy dose of colourful, amusing and
compulsive television drama at its finest.
The Good Karma Hospital also features: Nimmi Harasgama as Mari Rodriguez;
Madhur Jaffrey as Mother Carmen; Tom Canton as Marcus Read; Leanne Best as Debbie
Smart; John O'Mahoney as Father O'Shea; Deepak Vermer as Varun Kapoor; Raj Zutshi
as Juan Gonzalez; Clive Russell as Desmond MacIntosh; and Rupert Young as Sunny
MacIntosh.
Evocative Series Music is by Ben Foster; Director of Photography is Michael
Snyman; Created by Dan Sefton; Writers are Nancy Harris and Vinay Patel; Producer
is Stephen Smallwood; Directed by Bill Eagles and Jon Wright.
*The
Good Karma Hospital is released in the UK on DVD and digital, courtesy of
RLJ Entertainment's Acorn label, on 13 March 2017. Certificate: 15 | Running
Time: 270 Minutes Approximately on 2 Discs | Catalogue Number: AV3351 | RRP:
£19.99.
"The Good Karma Hospital serves up a healthy dose of colourful, amusing
and compulsive television drama at its finest" — Maggie Woods, MotorBar
"Enjoyable, full of humour, intrigues and happy endings… sure to become a regular
Sunday evening ritual" — The Observer
"Bursting with colour, sun and great one-liners" — Radio Times
"A great way to end the weekend, just what the doctor ordered for winter nights"
—Sunday Mirror
“Vibrant
with the exotic heartbeat of