What to watch
Before she becomes the Doctor in Doctor Who, Jodie Whittaker stars in a drama about… pretending to be a doctor. No doubt there will soon be many jokes about that floating around.
In this new four-part drama, written by real-life doctor Dan Sefton, Whittaker stars as Cath, a downtrodden ward sister who is fired when she takes her concerns about the conditions in her Sheffield hospital to the trust. Then, when at the leaving party for her best friend Alison – who’s about to begin a new life in New Zealand – she spots Alison’s CV and medical degree certificate in a bin. So Cath decides to adopt Alison’s identity and, hoping that her nursing skills will be enough to get by, find a job as a doctor far away in Edinburgh.
Though the premise may sound a little daft, it’s actually surprisingly – and worryingly – common. Sefton uses his hospital know-how to bring a sense of authenticity to what is a really quite gripping drama.
Whittaker, rather than channelling a cocky Leonardo Dicaprio in Catch Me if You Can, portrays a terrified woman flying by the seat of her pants. Excellent, too, is Emun Elliot as the colleague who catches her eye. Catherine Gee