It is often said that doctors make the worst patients.
However, when it comes to fiction, the equation is a winning one.
"Dr. House" and his diagnostician with his leg and addicted to painkillers, "New Amsterdam" and his chief suffering from cancer, "Good Doctor" and his autistic surgeon, "Hippocrates" and his internally operated on for the heart, "Doc »And his amnesic emergency doctor… Whatever the type of pathology, sick doctors are often synonymous with success in the series.
The Italian "Doc", whose last two parts of season 1 are broadcast this Wednesday from 9:05 pm on TF1, has so far brought together 3.9 million fans on average in front of the live episodes (18% share audience), a number that climbs to 4.5 million including replay (20% PDA).
Already at the beginning of the 2000s, France had followed the last months of Mark Greene, the endearing head of the “Emergency” department and his heartbreaking fight against an inoperable brain tumor, which exacerbated his desire to save lives anyway. , at all costs, waiting to be too affected to give up his functions, before passing away at the end of season 8.
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This phenomenon of caregivers struck, damaged or diminished by disease is therefore far from being a novelty, as Martin Winckler, doctor, writer, translator and critic of television series reminds us: “From the 1980s, the Anglo-Saxons were the first to show practitioners confronted with this kind of personal difficulties which interfere in their profession ”.
He takes for example his favorite series, "St. Elsewhere", "unknown in France, but a model of its kind".
The case of "Doc" today is all the more telling as the series is inspired by a true story, that of Dr Pierdante Piccioni, now 61 years old.
For the latter, the success of fiction is closely linked to the situation of its hero: “The fact that this doctor is a patient, it allows the public to identify themselves more easily.
He is no longer in the superhero doctor category.
As he is also on the side of the victims, he is all the more human.
"
"The hospital is also a bit of a mirror of our society"
It is precisely the human adventure at the center of medical series that seduces Sophie Leveaux, artistic director of acquisitions of TF 1, a channel that offers a lot.
“The hospital is a familiar universe, because we have all been there one day, or we have relatives who must have gone through it.
It is also a bit of a mirror of our society.
We find in the various medical series strong characters and themes to which we are attached to TF 1 such as surpassing oneself, the confrontation of different points of view, the political and ethical societal questions that drive us… With
Doc
and his point of view original departure - the amnesic doctor who continues to practice while being patient - we push a lot of psychological and emotional sliders that make it successful.
"
And the person in charge underlines that in general “a doctor always represents a certain authority which can induce distance with the patients as with the televiewers.
As soon as it passes on the side of the patients, this distance no longer exists.
"
An educational dimension
In recent years, medical series are more and more daring in the exposure and nature of the pathologies from which the heroes are affected.
This bias then gives fiction a real educational dimension destined to change looks.
The general public is thus better able to understand the difficulty of a sick professional in finding his place at work and in daily life.
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This is the case of Shaun Murphy, the gifted young surgeon of "Good Doctor" suffering from Asperger's syndrome.
For its part, “Black Box”, a British series from 2014 to be discovered on Amazon Prime Video, describes with realism what a caregiver with bipolar disorder experiences.
But Martin Winckler's darling remains the case with Dr Grégory House.
He loves this strong caustic mouth, who, even devoured by physical disability and severe drug addiction, is no less brilliant.
"These medical series are in any case very realistic and written with the help of specialists", specifies this connoisseur.
