Doctors ends after 24 years with a dramatic, dignified finale - and leaves a gaping hole in the industry

Disillusioned staff had been driven out one by one, either unable to work within bigoted Graham’s tyrannical regime (as with Al Haskey and Jimmi Clay) or intimidated by the unacceptable way he treated the team – particularly female colleagues (Scarlett Kiernan, finally speaking out about her boss’s attempted assault).

But nobody messes with the mighty Mill crew, and when Dr Zara Carmichael, the formidable, bold beating heart of the surgery, realised hiring Graham was a huge mistake on her part that only she could rectify, she sprang into action with the backing of her loyal team.

The gang pulled together to dispatch Graham in a satisfying showdown by claiming an administrative error meant his partnership had not been processed (a sneaky bit of subterfuge courtesy of business manager Bear Sylvester), and if he didn’t want his questionable behaviour to be reported it was best he went quietly.

Ensuing celebrations were short-lived as Zara lamented that without Graham’s financial investment, The Mill was finished. In a genuinely moving moment showcasing Doctors’ inherent kindness, the whole team offered to become partners and run the surgery as a collective, ensuring its survival.

A final montage gave us a last look at the characters carrying on with their lives now normal service was resumed, including nurse Luca McIntyre and Dr Michelle Walton both being reinstated, widowed copper Rob Hollins and lonely midwife Ruhma Carter finally getting together, and concluding with a hopeful Zara kicking off her signature stilettos and surveying her kingdom, safe in the knowledge that good has prevailed.

The emotional significance of The Mill’s potential closure mirrored the looming end of the show itself, adding a layer of poignancy. It was heartwarming to see everyone mobilise to get Graham out – if only Zara and the gang could’ve broken the fourth wall, stormed into the BBC and made them reverse the decision to axe the show, Doctors might have survived.

The surgery itself was more than a workplace to the characters, it was home to a professional family who stuck together through the tribulations living in a soap entails, and an important hub to the fictional community of Letherbridge. Doctors never shied away from showing the harsh reality of pressures faced by the NHS, and the staff’s integrity and desire to put their patients first to give the best care possible remained admirable until the very end.

Fighting the odds, a quest for justice and giving a voice to the silenced are threads that have run through Doctors since day one, and never more so than in its final few episodes.

Zara refusing to be defined by her diagnosis of functional neurological disorder, receptionist Rosie Colton protesting against pollution, and longest-serving character Dr Jimmi Clay eloquently standing up to Graham and Bear bending the rules to save the day showed that while attempting to beat the system isn’t easy, and might not always work, you should never give up trying to do the right thing.

Doctors is an unfortunate casualty of budget cuts within BBC drama, which also caused the demise of Holby City in 2022. Tough choices have to be made as the sands of the TV landscape continue to shift, but it’s the loyal viewers of these long-running shows who are losing out. There is no replacement for Doctors in the schedules, a huge gap for an underserved audience who had an intimate, unique relationship with a show they truly cared about.

It also leaves a gaping hole in the industry in terms of opportunities for creatives on both sides of the camera. Doctors’ self-contained ‘story of the day’ format, alongside the continuing serial plots, meant a constant stream of guest actors were needed.

Over its 24 years this provided big breaks for numerous future stars – notably Eddie Redmayne, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sam Heughan, Jodie Comer and Claire Foy.

The quality of the scripts also regularly attracted established names including the late Timothy West, whose guest appearance in the penultimate episode aired on the day his sad passing was announced.

Doctors challenged the constraints of daytime and pushed the boundaries of soap, never afraid to tackle taboo topics and experiment with unique styles of storytelling.

Maintaining its positivity until the credits rolled, the show sweetly signed off directly addressing the viewers: "So long, and here’s to your health!" Its daily prescription of quality drama, characterful comedy and food for thought will be missed by millions, and leaves an impressive legacy.

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