tlc

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'.

First Air Date: 2002-11-17

Last Air Date: 2002-12-16

Number of Seasons: 1

Number of Episodes: 6

Created By: Fintan Coyle

Networks: BBC Two

View Technical Specifications on IMDb

Top Cast

Reece Shearsmith as Dr Laurence Flynn
Alexander Armstrong as Dr Stephen Noble
Richard Griffiths as Mr Benedict Ron
Georgia Mackenzie as Nurse Judy Conway
Llewella Gideon as Sister Charity Hope
Martin Trenaman as The Wheelchair Man
Benedict Wong as Nurse Terry Cheung
Tim Brooke-Taylor as Hospital Chaplain
Erich Redman as Gasman
Tom Watt as Sid Potter

Seasons

Series 1 (2002)

No overview available for this season.

Episodes:

Ep. 1: Staying Awake (2002-11-17)

Newly qualified junior doctor Laurence Flynn fights to stay awake during his first shift plus finds himself fearing a particular procedure.
Ep. 2: Sectioned (2002-11-18)

Whilst trying to find place to sleep in the hospital, Flynn finds himself sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Ep. 3: Clean White Coat (2002-11-25)

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.
Ep. 4: Three Stars (2002-12-02)

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.
Ep. 5: The Wrong Leg (2002-12-09)

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.
Ep. 6: Agency Nurse (2002-12-16)

An agency nurse stirs things up between Judy and Flynn plus a few missed lunch breaks lead Flynn on a mission to find food.