Last night saw the return of hospital comedy Getting On, on BBC Four. After their last ward at King Edward VIII was closed, Kim, Den and Pippa have been relocated to ward K2 at the nearby St Jude’s. (Their wards are all named after mountains)
Image: BBC/Vera
It gets off to a good start with Kim getting lost after ignoring the briefing on following the yellow line on the floor. With their new location comes new technology, which predictably they struggle with. Kim (Jo Brand) and Sister Den (Joanna Scanlan) struggle with a new adjustable bed which almost has the patient on the floor after Den accuses Kim of giving it mixed signals, and consultant Pippa (Vicki Pepperdine) uses a soaking cloth to clean a new laptop.
Despite not catching much of the first 2 series, it was easy to jump into, with there being only three main characters, who also happen to be the show’s writers. The show also has the bonus of being directed by The Thick of It’s Peter Capaldi.
Consultant Pippa was excellent; how she managed to keep a straight face while talking about vaginal atrophy, I’ll never know. She spends the episode trying to convince people to help with her research, including cornering young black doctor Josh as “vulvas could be a very interesting area for you to get into” with a hint of racism thrown in for good measure when she mentions genital mutilation in his continent.
Whether you’ve seen the first 2 series or not, this looks like being one of the hit comedies of the year. Just a shame it’s hidden away on BBC Four.
Getting On is on BBC Four, Wednesdays at 10:00pm
Watch Episode 1 on BBC iPlayer here
Read our interview about the show with Jo Brand here
Fantastically well observed and acted. I love it. I’m a nurse in the NHS. This is the most far fetched yet most accurate portrayal of life in the NHS. Hilarious and poignant at the same time. The doctor/nurse/management relations,the jargon and the nonsensical campaigns are all part and parcel of everyday in the NHS. Brilliant. More please.
Utterly brilliant
LOVE this show… I am an NHS doctor and it is so well observed, it makes me howl with laughter! Especially Dr. Pippa Moore; I have worked with consultants just like that… I always feel sorry for the poor medical students, remember being one of them (poor Josh!).
It’s the little things that are the funniest, like when a patient was due to be discharged that day and in order to cancel her lunch order an e-mail had to be sent to HQ in Luton, so that they could fax someone else who could inform the canteen (so typical of NHS bureaucracy), and then the poor patient ended up still waiting for her medication and was there at lunchtime anyway after all that (Kim ended up making her a piece of toast)… and I LOVE the way Dr. Moore always asks “So where to first, Sister?”, and then strides off without waiting for an answer, always in the completely opposite direction to where Sister wants her to start! Then rolls her eyes in irritation at having to come all the way back again… Hilarious – have seen that soooooooooo many times in real life! And the latest episode where the patient is wittering on about an owl and everyone thinks she has lost her mind but has to have a very serious face and say “someone took away the owl, yes of course, that must be very upsetting…” (while secretly thinking OK this woman has lost her marbles completely here!) – and then of course the patient was perfectly sane and lucid all along!!
By the way I have DEFINITELY come across the mysterious locked door which nobody can get into situation before in real life….
I’ve got to find out what happens when poor oblivious Dr. Moore gets in the hot tub with her clearly lesbian colleague….!
Have never enjoyed any medical comedy as much except for House (who is the dr who dares to say what every other dr is thinking but doesn’t dare say…and incredibly sexy to boot… now if they could just get Hugh Laurie to do a guest appearance on Getting On…)
HILARIOUS. HILARIOUS. HILARIOUS. When Dr Pippa got up from the chair with her beyonce style wig on I cried with laughter. Fabulous show
I have nursing colleagues who can’t watch it as it is too painfully close to home. Love it.
Final episode
– I will miss the Getting on ladies.
What a great series – loved every episode.
Hope they make another one.
I love the repeated problem with the locked door. When I worked in an Xray Dept. several doors were always locked needing a code.to open them. Eventually we wrote all the codes in very tiny pencil numbers on the wall above each door. We could not cope otherwise. It brings it all back Kate
I laugh and laugh while watching every episode, but fear that those, including my other half who has no NHS experience, will miss so many of the hidden inferences that make the programme so hilariously funny. My nearest & dearest looks at me with pity, when I am laughing almost to the point of crying. He does enjoy it, but doesn’t always ‘get it’ which is so sad for him. I too, like Sue, sincerely hope it wins a camode full of awards & that new series’ will keep being written for us all to enjoy.
If this doesn’t win awards, I’ll eat my camode.
Saw Getting on Series Episode 5 last night it was hilarious, moving, clever and one of the best shows on TV.
It’s so typical! I liked the scene where Kim and Den were experimenting with bed. It’s not far off reality. Pippa is wonderful but so appalling cringeworthy and out of touch. As for Hilary, his character is beautifully crafted and he is such a useless idiot and so full of jargon. It is a terrific script. It reminds me of my time in the NHS, I struggled to do my job when everything seemed to conspire against me; from the porters refusing to bring patients for therapy because they were on a tea break, to the day patients being taken home early to suit the ambulance staff! There were good times of course but it was a tough job. I never miss this programme. It is excellent.
It is a brilliantly written and thought out comedy & anyone who has worked for the NHS, particularly ward based, can see the unspoken inferences in every episode. All these things and more have happened at some time or another, but because they are crammed into 30mins it does seen a little farcical, but that’s why it is so funny. There are always lazy nurses, shortages of staff, surprise inspections, unplanned meetings, changes, changes & more changes. There always new equipment being introduced but very little time to learn how to use it & no one to ask, staff off sick, dotty patients, inappropriately placed patients (like the bariatric doctor) agency cleaners (don’t we love/hate them?!) that know one notices & who are inevitably more qualified than anyone gives them credit for because there is never time to actually talk to them. The NHS today is not what it was even 10 years ago, because of lack of cash which has lead to falling standards, The troubles in the NHS will continue to go on & on, but at least this series unearths all its faults in away that we can laugh at them otherwise we would crawl into the sluice and cry!!
I can hardly believe that a geriatric ward has only two members of staff working on it for the entire shift? Sister Den is bone idle and leaves everything to Kim to do. Her latest excuse is that she is pregnant!!!!!!! I Doctor Pippa does not make one iota of sense whatsoever, have not a clue what she is wittering on about all the time. The idea of using a patient’s room as Sister’s office is far fetched it’s unbelieveable. I used to work for the NHS, I am a retired Clinical Support worker, and have worked in many departments, I have never come across anything like this. We always had ample staff to deal with the day to day work on the ward. Sister had her own office. We had access to the linen cupboard, and anywhere else we needed to get access to. The doctor’s talked sense and never berated you in public. Glad that Kim gave away that Pippa’s sheets away, serve her right. I’ve watched the series from the very beginning, and the only one who has actually done any work is Kim. She has been put on, gone without breaks. I reckon they should downgrade Den to health care or cleaner and promote Kim to ward sister as she is the only one who does anything.