Monroe (TV series)
| Monroe | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Medical drama |
| Written by | Peter Bowker |
| Directed by |
|
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Jennie Scanlon |
| Running time | 46 mins |
| Production company(s) | Mammoth Screen |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV, STV, UTV |
| Original release | 10 March 2011 – 5 November 2012 |
Monroe is a British medical drama television series created and written by Peter Bowker and produced by Mammoth Screen for the ITV network. The series follows a neurosurgeon named Gabriel Monroe, played by James Nesbitt. The six-part series was commissioned by ITV as one of a number of replacements for its long-running police drama series The Bill, which was cancelled in 2010. Filming on Monroe began in Leeds in September 2010, with production based in the old Leeds Girls' High School in Headingley. The first episode was broadcast on ITV on 10 March 2011 to strong ratings. A second series followed in 2012. On 14 November 2012, it was announced that ITV had cancelled Monroe due to low viewing figures.
Screenwriter Peter Bowker announced to the trade magazine Broadcast in July 2009 that he was developing a "big medical drama" for ITV. Bowker had worked on medical dramas early in his career, including Casualty and Medics. ITV's director of drama Laura Mackie told The Stage that the series would be "grown-up" and would be based around a single character, like ITV's Doc Martin. Mackie believed that other broadcasters were reluctant to create series with one lead character—instead making ensemble shows like Casualty and Holby City—so Bowker's series would not overlap with anything already being screened.
Bowker told the Media Guardian that he had been inspired to create a series about a neurologist after his four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour. He wanted the drama of Monroe to be similar to the American medical series House; "It may be foolish to compare the two but with neurologists, as with House, there is this very intense 10 days when you work with them on a case and then you say goodbye – it is really quite fascinating and will hopefully make great drama." Independent production company Mammoth Screen developed the series with Bowker, having previously worked with him on his Wuthering Heights adaptation. The drama entered the pre-production stage in March 2010, when Laura Mackie and ITV's director of television Peter Fincham commissioned it for the network. Formal greenlighting was expected to happen in the first week of April 2010.
...
Wikipedia