A Young Doctor’s Notebook (2012)

The problem with TV shows/series for me is that they generally require a huge investment of time. With long seasons and many episodes it usually means that during the time I am enjoying a TV show that I can not spend that time watching movies. It is the reason I didn’t pay much attention to series for the past few years. At the end of last year I decided to try again (watching House of Cards and Lilyhammer) and was immediately hooked. So this year I have been watching a lot more shows. A Young Doctor’s Notebook is a miniseries which has the running of the average movie. With just four 22 minute episodes this was something I could easily devour quickly without it cutting into my movie watching. So is it any good?

Starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and John Hamm (Mad Men) this series has some fine actors in the leading part as they both play the same role, just different ages. The unique thing is that these two versions of the same person interact. The older version revisits his past and tries to warn him about the choices he’s about to make and what the consequences are. You could argue this is all happening in the old man’s mind as he is revisiting what he has written down in his notebook. There is not time travel involved here. His younger version has just finished his studies to become a doctor and has to start working in a very remote hospital around the time of the Russian revolution. Two nurses and another doctor have been working there for years and looked up to their previous doctor who Daniel Radcliffe’s character has to replace. He has to lead them and make important decisions, despite his inexperience. This often leads to some very strange situations.

A Young Doctor’s Notebook is a very black comedy where the source of the laughs is the inexperience of the new doctor and the hospital which isn’t well equipped. The show regularly shows bloody surgery procedures in which Radcliffe’s character has no idea what to do and makes some excuse to run to his room to look in books for information. There is a nice dynamic interaction between the characters, but besides the main character the rest of the people working in the hospitable don’t have much background. For such a short series that is forgivable and it is a joy to watch Radcliffe and Hamm. If you’d compare TV shows to food than this one would be a nice quick snack.