The Royal
| The Royal | |
|---|---|
The Royal intro.
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| Starring |
Denis Lill Wendy Craig Michelle Hardwick Robert Daws Andy Wear Linda Armstrong Amy Robbins Glynis Barber Gareth Hale Neil McDermott Diana May Lauren Drummond |
| Opening theme | "Somebody Help Me" by The Spencer Davis Group |
| Ending theme | "Somebody Help Me" (instrumental) by The Spencer Davis Group |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 87 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | ITV Studios |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV, STV, UTV |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 19 January 2003 – 31 July 2011 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
Heartbeat The Royal Today |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Royal is a British period medical drama produced by ITV and aired normally on Sundays in the early evening slot; episodes after 21 June 2009, were also broadcast on ITV HD. The show consisted of eight series of one-hour episodes and was broadcast on ITV from 2003 until the show was cancelled in 2011, with repeats continuing on ITV3. The show is set in the 1960s and focuses on the fictional "St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital", an NHS hospital serving the fictional rural seaside town of Elsinby and its surrounding area. The show began as a spin-off of ITV's period police drama series, Heartbeat, featuring characters from Heartbeat during the first three series, before becoming its own entity.
The show itself was shot within Whitby, Scarborough, and the North Riding of Yorkshire, and stars of The Royal included Ian Carmichael, Wendy Craig, Robert Daws, and Amy Robbins. The show itself generated its own spin-off, entitled The Royal Today, which used the same settings but in the present day.
The setting of The Royal was first introduced as part of the story for the 14th episode of the 12th series of Heartbeat entitled 'Out Of The Blue', in which the hospital was used to treat Heartbeat character, Vernon Scripps and several people of Aidensfield. The benefit of this and its connection to the show, helped it to gain its own series, though it initially began as a spin-off with several characters from Heartbeat appearing in episodes as part of its main plots or side story; the most prominent of these appearances were Claude Greengrass (Bill Maynard), PC Alfred "Alf" Ventress (William Simons), and PC Philip "Phil" Montgomery Bellamy (Mark Jordon). By the end of the third series, the show's ties to Heartbeat were discontinued, with the show's production team working to make it into its own entity by the fourth series. Unlike its former parent show, The Royal uses the song "Somebody Help Me" by The Spencer Davis Group as it main theme tune, with an instrumental version playing over the ending credits.
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