The cast includes Rodger Corser, Nicole da Silva, Ryan Johnson, Tina Bursill, Hayley McElhinney and Steve Bisley, and follows the story of Hugh Knight, a rising heart surgeon who is gifted, charming and infallible.
The series was originally produced by Essential Media & Entertainment and Easy Tiger Productions in association with Screen NSW.
A ratings success for Nine Network, the series has occasionally been the highest-rated drama on Australian television, peaking at 854,000 during its first season.
After a spectacular fall from grace, high-flying heart surgeon Dr Hugh Knight receives a life-changing punishment from the Medical Tribunal—he is forced to work for a year as a country general practitioner (GP) in his former home town of Whyhope.
Now the only way to salvage his brilliant career is to work as a lowly GP in an under-resourced, small-town hospital surrounded by estranged family, former friends, crazed colleagues, oddball patients, jealous brothers and a newlywed ex-girlfriend.
The series entered pre-production in early 2016, with executive producers Andy Ryan and Jo Rooney of the Nine Network and Ian Collie, Claudia Karvan and Tony McNamara of Essential Media & Entertainment.
[3] Inspiration for the series came from discussions that Tony McNamara had with lawyers who talked with him about the Impaired Registrants Program, a practice operated by the Medical Council of New South Wales, which seeks to ensure that medical practitioners are fit for practice and in doing so, the program manages doctors who suffer from a psychiatric illness, self-administration of drugs, alcohol abuse, and physical illness.
[4] The series was produced by Essential Media and Entertainment and its first season created 800 jobs and production expenditure of $11.6 million in Sydney and Mudgee, as well as $300,000 in grants from Screen NSW.
[5] The series premiered on Nine Network on the earlier-than-expected broadcast date of 14 September 2016, and in the process, post-production of the ten-episode season was rushed.
[19] In an early announcement, it was stated that additional supporting cast would consist of Ryan Johnson, Hayley McElhinney, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Chloe Bayliss and Dave Eastgate[3][20] It was later revealed that Steve Bisley would appear in the series as Jim Knight.
For the second season of Doctor Doctor, it was announced that Packed to the Rafters star Angus McLaren would join the cast as ex-army medic, Dr Toke, after a three-year hiatus from acting in television,[21] while it had also been confirmed that New Zealand actress, Brittany Scott Clark, formerly of soap opera Shortland Street, would portray Nurse Mia Holston.
[25] In September 2020, several new cast additions were announced for the fifth season; they include, Zoe Ventoura,[26] Lincoln Younes,[27] Darren McMullen,[26] John Waters,[28] Chantelle Jamieson, Rishikesh Shukre and Contessa Treffone.
[38] In October 2019, it was announced that the fourth season would premiere on the United Kingdom's Drama channel on 16 November 2019 before it aired in Australia.
[46] The series, which is internationally re-titled as The Heart Guy,[47] airs on pay television broadcaster Sky Deutschland for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The program is also available in the United States with the title The Heart Guy, where new episodes premiere on the streaming network Acorn TV[49] and are broadcast for free on many PBS local affiliates.
[51] Having secured the rights to screen the fourth season, it premiered on Drama on 16 November 2019, in a new 10 pm timeslot on Saturday nights, where it aired double episodes each week.
In a review from Debi Enker for the Sydney Morning Herald, she stated that in contrast of other medical dramas it "Takes a different approach.