Peak Practice

I have been watching Peak Practice for several years now and is one of the better dramas of recent years. I was shocked and annoyed when the makers of this show, Carlton, decided to axe it after 9 years, despite it attracting 7 million viewers.

This series, which is made in the same county as I live, is being axed as Carlton says they have ran out of storylines. A lot of different medical issues have been covered during its duration.

The cast has changed several times over the years and the last series included Simon Sheperd, one of the original stars who had only just returned to the series after a few years' absence. This programme also made a star of Karl Davies who played landlord's son Nick Pullen. He now plays Robert Sugden in Emmerdale. Guest stars to have appeared include Keith Barren (The Land That Time Forgot, Duty Free), John Rhys Davies (The Living Daylights, Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Linda Baron (Open All Hours).

I enjoyed watching this series and it will be greatly missed.

Rating: 4 and a half stars out of 5.

The first ten years were compelling despite the ever changing cast. Unfortunately the final 2 years was comparable to watching a soap opera trying to jump the shark. What a letdown.

I loved the first 10 seasons, but after Dr Andrew Attwood's character left, it became a soap opera of sorts. The actors until then were really solid actors and cast very well. Bringing Will's character back was a desperate attempt to save the show, however, it flopped afterwards. Will & Alex always had a smirk on their faces. Is the Botox overdone or are these people masquerading as actors. The crazy Claire army type is the only reason I kept watching. She's good. I really wanted to smack her! What a badass! Maybe if the initial characters hadn't had such a grueling filming schedule, they all wouldn't have left. It's really a shame. Just like Ballykissangel, Peak Practice was a feel good show, but as the seasons progressed, it just didn't work.

Peak Practice was a good series but they never recaptured the Beth / Jack magic of the early seasons, which was essential to balance the tragedies / darker topics. I like that the show doesn't shy away from death but it was too much doom and gloom as the years went by. Like Midsomer Murders, having a deeply bonded and some warm/romantic humour made the sad storylines bearable. I watched this show as a teen and it is weird but good to watch it again now that I am older than the doctors - 30 years on, the storylines are still so relevant, esp the work/community struggle as I've had that in my own career.

Ironically the next episode on my Morse playlist is S2.3 which stars Kevin (regular) and Amanda (guest) before they filmed Peak Practice.

It saddens me that this lovely series was axed after 9 years, it was excellent, beautiful and heart warming. It had fantastic, well written and engaging story lines, clever and touching writing and sweet, relaxing music. It also had the advantage of being gorgeously filmed, the countryside of Derbyshire is absolutely beautiful and really added to Peak Practice's charm.

Then it had consistently strong direction, and wonderful performances from a talented cast including Saskia Wickman, Simon Shepherd, Amanda Burton, Adrian Lukis, Karl Davies, Maggie O' Neill and Kevin Whately.

Overall, a wonderful drama series, if anything it should have lasted longer. 10/10 Bethany Cox