We return to The Good Karma Hospital
On location in Sri Lanka, Amanda Redman, Neil Morrissey and Amrita Acharia tell us about the return of their hit medical drama…
The sun shines down and the palm trees sway gently in the morning breeze as TV Times sits on the steps of The Good Karma Hospital taking in the scene.
We’ve been invited on set for the second series of ITV’S hit medical drama, set in Southern India but actually filmed in Sri Lanka – and that’s not an offer you turn down…
Last year we followed British doctor Ruby Walker (Amrita Acharia) as she arrived at the underfunded cottage hospital and began working under the supervision of the wonderfully eccentric Dr Lydia Fonseca (Amanda Redman).
Just as Ruby fell in love with her new home, we fell in love with a vibrant show that boasted wonderful scenery, likeable characters and moving storylines.
During a break in filming, we caught up with Amrita, Amanda and Neil Morrissey, who plays Lydia’s boyfriend, local bar owner Greg Mcconnell, to find out what’s coming up this time…
You must be delighted to be back out here for another series? Amrita: It’s not a shabby place to film for three months! It’s been quite heavy with monsoons this year, which has caused a few delays, but so do stray dogs, lizards, tuk-tuks and all sorts of other things. That’s what makes this place unique.
Neil: Every day you walk out and think, ‘I’m filming in this’ - it’s gorgeous. I was especially lucky as the bar is the best set. There’s constant breeze, no mosquitoes and lots of shade, because that hospital set is hot. I’ve only got one scene there this series and that suits me fine!
The first series had such a positive response from viewers… Amanda: Yes it was fantastic and what surprised me more than
anything was that so many men liked it. Men told me they were moved by the stories and didn’t actually feel embarrassed about that. My great friend Ray Winstone absolutely loved it and never missed an episode even though it made him cry every week!
so, what’s happening this time? Amrita: This series is about family, whether it’s The Good Karma Hospital family or the personal lives of our core characters. We get more of a sense of who they are outside the hospital.
As for Ruby, she’s found her feet now, so this year she’s exploring her past a bit. Her father, who left when she was a baby, comes from India and when she stumbles on a part of her heritage she has to make a decision about whether she wants to know more.
You must be expert at medical terminology by now, Amrita… Amrita: I’m not sure my dad, who’s an obstetrician, would agree! I got really excited because Ruby gets to do surgery this year, so I sent him a video when I was practising on prosthetics. He replied saying, ‘Oh yeah, it’s an appendectomy, the easiest one!’ I was like, ‘Thanks Dad!’
And what’s on the horizon for lydia and greg?
Amanda: That’s one of my favourite parts about the show – they work really well together. It’s nice to see a relationship between a strong woman and a man who can handle that. They bicker and they’re funny, but I think those are the best lighthearted moments of the series.
Neil: Greg grows even closer to Paul [Philip Jackson], who returns to India following the death of his wife, Maggie [Phyllis Logan], at the end of the last series. Paul’s a bit lost and wants to try and assuage his grief by being in the place she loved. Male grief is a big part of this year’s series, which is important because men often try to hide their emotions or don’t recognise them because they haven’t been practising with them for most of their lives. do you get on well with philip, who plays paul?
Neil: Yeah, we sit in the bar playing pool – which he never wins – and go through our words. A cobra even came into the bar one day, which was quite exciting. One of the staff had to coax him into a bottle using a pool cue!
eek! what else do you get up to when you’re not busy filming? Amanda: We all go out to dinner quite a lot, we’re each other’s family when we’re abroad. Then you think; ‘This work is interrupting my holiday!’