TV series

tlc

Name: tlc
Released: 2002
Cast: Reece Shearsmith, Alexander Armstrong, Richard Griffiths, Georgia Mackenzie, Llewella Gideon

2002· 1 season· 30 min episodes★ 6.2Ended

On BBC Two — From Pozzitive Productions

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Where to watch

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Synopsis

tlc is a darkly surreal farce-like sitcom created and written by Fintan Coyle, set in a fictional NHS hospital called South Middlesex where coffee is traded like drugs and pretty much everyone has a personality complex. Dr Laurence Flynn finds himself thrown in at the deep end when he gets his first job after leaving Medical School (where he failed his finals). Always the butt of jokes by other staff (being called on to revive dead people)he has to cope not only with the patients but mad colleagues too – an ex surgeon now the hospital chaplain and a German theatre assistant with a masochistic kink. The show never confirms what 'tlc' stands for, although it's presumed to be a sarcastic reference to the widely used abbreviation for 'tender loving care', but could equally refer to the alternative yet related abbreviation 'total lack of concern'.

Themes

surrealism hospital medical farce

Episodes

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E1 Staying AwakeNext upNov 17, 2002 · 30 min
Synopsis
Newly qualified junior doctor Laurence Flynn fights to stay awake during his first shift plus finds himself fearing a particular procedure.
Guest stars: Pip Torrens (Mr Copperfield), Charlotte McDougall (Mrs Copperfield), David Savile (The Examiner), Pooja Kumar (IVF Doctor), Ann Wenn (IVF Patient), San Shella (Medical Student), Chris Geere (Medical Student), Naomi Taylor (Medical Student)
E2 SectionedNov 18, 2002 · 30 min
Synopsis
Whilst trying to find place to sleep in the hospital, Flynn finds himself sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Guest stars: Joan Oliver (The Psychiatrist), Edna Doré (Ethel), David McKail (Mr Holland), Renee Nyland (Photocopier Patient)
E3 Clean White CoatNov 25, 2002 · 30 min
Synopsis
Flynn has to get a clean white coat before the next ward round, but not before encounters with Jesus, tropical fish, the local priest and the Pet Shop Boys.
Guest stars: John O'Mahony (Father Kerrigan), Peggy Shields (Mrs Price), Paul Putner (Chef), Mia Soteriou (The Linen Lady), Nicholas Monu (Dr Galton), Abi Eniola (Midwife), John Rapley (Exterminator), Godfrey Jackman (Exterminator)
E4 Three StarsDec 2, 2002 · 30 min
Synopsis
South Middlesex loses all three of its NHS stars, and Flynn and Noble are charged with restoring the hospital to its former status... with predictable results.
Guest stars: Paul Putner (Chef), Marsha Millar (Mrs Howard), Julie Foulds (Mrs Stanley), Sue Elliott-Nichols (Midwife), Connie M'Gadzah (ICU Cleaner), Nicholas Amer (Patient in Corridor), Jean Trend (Patient in Corridor), Steve Varnom (Patient in Corridor)
E5 The Wrong LegDec 9, 2002 · 30 min
Synopsis
Flynn saws off the wrong leg while operating on notorious criminal Frank Briggs, and there's a rooftop chase after a new directive is issued.
Guest stars: Frank Harper (Frank Briggs), David Cann (DI Crighton), Jay Kilbey (Minder), Richard Freeman (Pathologist), Roger Morlidge (Police Constable), Vicki Pepperdine (Chiropodist), Hilary Sesta (Chiropody Patient), Lorraine Hilton ('Bad News' Mother)
E6 Agency NurseDec 16, 2002 · 30 min
Synopsis
An agency nurse stirs things up between Judy and Flynn plus a few missed lunch breaks lead Flynn on a mission to find food.
Guest stars: Chris Geere (Medical Student), Paul Putner (Chef), Adrian Scarborough (The Phlebotomist), Hugh Sachs (Mr Gray), Christopher Beck (Mr Piper), Frank Coda (Mr Clifford), Peter Waddington (Mr Renshaw), David Mitchell (1950s Patient)