User Reviews

When you hear dialogue like this from the lips of arguably England's greatest novelist it's plain you're in the company of writers whose effrontery is at near genius level. Dickens is shown as a man whose huge ego feeds voraciously on praise and totally ignores indifference towards his work,or worse,ignorance of it. There is no discernible plot to "Quacks,it merely being a series of anarchic and somewhat surreal incidents.For instance,Florence Nightingale has a stolen bracelet planted in her medical bag by a jealous surgeon and is forced to agree to an illicit tryst in order to "make it all go away". Doctors refuse to clean their instruments,there is competition to see who can saw off a lower limb the quickest,they self - medicate with all manner of narcotics and one of them,an alienist, seems indistinguishable from his patients. We are a long way in every sense from "Holby City" here. The cast seems to be having nearly as much fun as I did and camp is kept at a respectable level. It's late - night comedy with all of its virtues and none of its vices. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Quacks is a fantastic new sitcom from writer/director James Woods, and follows four doctors in Victorian times: Robert played by Rory Kinnear, a Surgeon, John played by Tom Basden, a dentist, William played by Matthew Baynton, a behaviourist/"alienist" as called by Robert, and Caroline played by Lydia Leonard, Robert's wife who has medical knowledge far beyond her time. Whilst there is a through-line of plot, the series more operates like sitcoms of the 80's and 90's where they were heavily episodic.

The best thing about the show is the way in which it creates a very realistic setting in which these characters can operate in. What I mean by this is that it embraces the fact that the show is set about doctors in Victorian times, and that the morality rate was very high especially in hospitals. It makes it clear that these doctor's don't save everyone - just more than most. This is quite a good high-jinx, and each episode does create a premise in which all characters are pulled together in a very farcical way, which some tremendous lines read with laser accuracy by some of the best comedy ensembles in recent memory.

Seriously, this cast is the backbone of the whole show. All of them are standouts. Rory Kinnear is a great comedic lead, who's Robert is so openly showboating, arrogant, conniving and misogynistic, but is also so brilliantly droll at the same time you can't help but find him someone to root for against even the likes of Florence Nightingale. His wife, Caroline, is great because of what she represents - an annoyed, impatient housewife who is unlucky to be born a woman at the time she was; but what's even better about her is asides from her curiosity and intelligence, is that she does still love her husband, and over the course of the series, he comes to depend on her more and more for intellectual and moral support, and Leonard is cracking at it. William, as played by Baynton, is mostly the straight man of the group - ironic given that he is the only one NOT dealing in medical fields, and he gives some great reactions to some of the insane bs that happens, particularly in Episode 4 where he is the subject of a Medical dilemma. Lastly, as John, Tom Basden is very much the unlucky character of the show - everyone around him dies, and the romance he kindles in Episode 5 is finish under sad circumstances - I hope they bring her back in the near future - and he gets humour from a lot of his exacerbations with his situations. All in all, this is such a connected cast, it really helps.

It also helps that you have established actors such Andrew Scott who appears once off as Charles Dickens, Fenella Woolgar as Elizabeth Campbell and Rupert Everett as the head of the hospital Robert and John work at, combined with performances from new actors such as Millie Thomas and Miranda Hennessey who in each Episode they're in nail it completely, especially with the solid writing that transcends the sitcom format it has, makes me really, really, REALLY hope for a second show.

The whole program is available now on BBC IPlayer - give it a go, the whole show will take 3 hours.

Well, this new BBC comedy may polarise viewers. Some will be disappointed that it isn't 'cutting edge' enough, some will wonder what is actually happening, some will not like it at all. Here's my view...

Our four main characters are all medical pioneers of sorts in a Victorian-esque England. There's the surgeon, who seems to be more interested in the glory and applause after successfully completing a live surgery than he is in medical advancement. There's our dentist, who is more interested in discovering new ways to 'anesthetise' both his patients and himself. Our psychiatrist is genuinely interested in further exploring the link between mental illness and old wives' tales. Last we have the surgeon's wife, the most sensible, intelligent, balanced one among them.

I found the humour here to be just my bag. Deadpan delivery one minute, laugh out loud the next, the writing and acting on show was refreshing and original. The four lead characters really gel, and the supporting cast are without weakness.

The medical procedures on show offer both an additional source of humour, but also their barbaric, unsophisticated nature makes you think of life under the knife in this period of not-too-distant history.

I really enjoyed all six episodes. If you're not having fun after episode 2 or 3, maybe it isn't for you. I thought the performances were superb and the set designs really captured the atmosphere.

If you want to literally have a laugh, stick with this and enjoy a real dose of original comedy. However, if you're unfortunate enough to have a hernia or aneurysm, I'd advise to look elsewhere for treatment!