The Young Doctors is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday 8 November 1976 until Wednesday 30 March 1983.

Watson had been the Producer of the British TV soap opera Crossroads from 1964 to 1973 and he moved back to Australia to help set up a new drama department within the Reg Grundy Organisation, which at the time, was better known for its game and quiz shows.

The Young Doctors began in November 1976, a week earlier than another new soap opera on Network Nine, The Sullivans, which was produced by Crawford Productions.

The Young Doctors long-serving cast members began to leave, so during the final season in 1982–83, many new characters were added in an attempt to modernise and refresh the long-running serial.

[3] Producer and co-creator Alan Coleman also left in early 1982, and was replaced by Sue Masters twelve months before the series finished production in late November 1982.

Despite the hospital setting, medical procedures rarely featured in storylines, with the majority of the stories and plots focusing more on the personal lives, romances and dramas of the staff.

[6] The most regularly seen set was the large hospital's entrance lobby containing a reception desk, refreshments kiosk, a lift and stairs to the upper floors, and swinging double-doors that led into the casualty department.

There was also a Chapel located in the hospital grounds which was filmed on a few occasions, most notably when Julie Holland was shot at the altar on her Wedding day to Dr Russell Edwards.

With location shooting so rare, a trip to Melbourne for a travelogue-style Wedding and tour of the city was an extravagant way to celebrate Liz Kennedy's marriage to Dr John Forrest in 1981.

The bar was originally owned by, and named after, Bunny Howard, played by comedian, Ugly Dave Gray, who was killed off in an early episode.

After Bunny died, Edna Curtis (Vivienne Benson-Young) ran the bar for a while, until Annemarie Austin (Judi Connelli) took over a year later.

[7] Although The Young Doctors was obviously low-budget and the limitations of the fast-turnaround production schedule sometimes crept into the programme, it was immensely popular during the late 1970s in Australia.

The actor fondly recalls the photo shoot on a reunion documentary available on both the Umbrella and ViaVision DVD releases, where he describes the pictures as "taboo" because "it wasn't acceptable back then for men to be taking all their clothes off".

Possibly due to the fast production schedule, and filming six months in advance of transmission dates, contemporary cultural references are rare in The Young Doctors, however, in a very early 1977 episode, Sister Gibbs briskly remarks; "...casualty is busier than an ABBA concert today".

[11] Also extremely popular in the United Kingdom, the success of The Young Doctors here is notable because it didn't air in Britain contemporaneously with Australian broadcasts.

It therefore looked somewhat dated compared with more recent Australian serials that were airing at the same time (namely, Sons and Daughters), nevertheless, it became so popular, a fan club was formed, which was active for several years well into the 1990s.

In the United Kingdom, the programme was acquired by 13 of the 14 weekday members of the ITV Network, while Scottish Television never purchased the series although Ulster, Grampian and Border did.