‘This series is more challenging and the storylines more hard-hitting’
Good Karma Hospital stars Amanda Redman and Neil Morrissey tell Georgia Humphreys about series three of the medical drama
Good Karma Hospital fans have had to wait two years for its return to UK screens.
Now the third series of the medical drama, which is set in southern India but filmed in Sri Lanka, is airing and there’s a particularly shocking storyline in store.
One of the hospital’s nurses, Jyoti Gill, becomes the victim of a horrific acid attack, and the formidable Dr Lydia Fonseca – played by Brightonborn star Amanda Redman, 62 – is in charge of her care.
The idea was pitched by New Tricks star Redman, who herself suffered serious burns aged 18 months old, after accidentally tipping a cauldron of boiling soup over herself.
She had to undergo treatment in hospital for years afterwards, and still bears visible scars on her left arm today.
Here, we find out more from Redman, and Staffordborn Neil Morrissey, 57, who plays Lydia’s partner, Greg Mcconnell.
Can you sum up what viewers can expect from series three?
Amanda: I think in series three we’ve found the right place for the drama. It is more challenging and the storylines more hard-hitting. It’s grittier but that also allows the more comedic moments to be lighter as well, because that’s life.
How does it feel to see the storyline about Nurse Jyoti come to life?
Amanda: I’m thrilled with the way that it’s been handled. My big thing was I didn’t want it to be ‘prettied’ up for television. I wanted it to be as real as we could possibly make it and I think we’ve done that, especially with Davy [Jones] and Abbie [Bingham’s] brilliant prosthetics.
It was quite a traumatic experience when we filmed it. The crew had tears in their eyes and it was especially traumatic for Nimm [who plays Nurse Mari], myself and for Sayani, who plays Nurse Jyoti. It makes you realise what a hideous, hideous thing it is to happen to somebody.
The show is airing at 8pm this year. What do you think about the acid attack scenes being shown at that time?
Neil: At 8 o clock, it’s probably a bit raw. But, it’s such an impactful thing. We’ve all met people who have been victims of accidents, burns victims. I’ve met many a soldier who’s been through an awful lot of things and come through, but you don’t see the initial attack.
And that’s what I think is so special about this [storyline], because you see how quickly it impacts on a person’s life.
Has it brought back painful memories for you, Amanda?
Amanda: It certainly brought back memories of operations. The actress playing Jyoti was terrific. And I just thought, ‘Christ, feeling that pain must have been awful for me’. But I don’t remember it [the accident] at all.
I took the team down to the hospital where I was [the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead] to meet the specialists, who were just great. We would literally be phoning them up from Sri Lanka saying, ‘Have we got this right?’ And they’d go, ‘No, you need to change that, that doesn’t quite work’. It was really good. It was important for East Grinstead too. They want people to know the reality of it, because they have to deal with it on a day to day basis.
In the first episode, Greg’s daughter Tommy turns up out of the blue...
Neil: When she first arrives, she stays at Greg and Lydia’s place. Greg and Tommy are making all kinds of plans, what they’re going to do at the weekend, where they’re going to go. But she takes off the very next morning, leaving a note. He is horribly disappointed, and a bit upset but tries not to show it, which is difficult for Greg; he wears his heart on his sleeve.
What can you tell us about Lydia and Greg’s relationship this series?
Neil: It’s not, ‘Is he going to leave her?’ It’s not, ‘Will they, won’t they?’ Yes, there’s going to be niggles and arguments and rows and differences of opinion – like normal couples. And that’s what we try to demonstrate.
When his daughter turns up, Lydia sees a whole new side of Greg, which is going to strengthen them. She has to go and resolve the situation when Greg gets very upset.
If there are more series of Good Karma Hospital in the future, what storylines would you like to see?
Neil: I really wanted to explore Greg’s past, so that happened with the daughter. I’d like to go further with that, for sure. Also, we’d love to see something that really upsets Lydia – not makes her angry, not puts her out of kilter, but something that really hits at her core.
Amanda: Lydia has got a wall up. I think she’s been hurt. I think there’s a hell of a lot about both people that we don’t know. They’re the age they are, so they’ve got baggage.
● Good Karma Hospital airs on STV on Sundays.