Combat Hospital
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''Combat Hospital'' is a
medical drama A medical drama is a Television film, television movie or film in which events center upon a hospital, clinic, doctor's office, a paramedic, or any other medical topic or environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic progra ...
television series, filmed in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, that debuted on
Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...
in Canada and ABC in the United States on June 21, 2011. Its final episode was broadcast on September 6, 2011. The series was known for a time by the
working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...
''The Hot Zone'' before reverting to its original title, ''Combat Hospital''. ABC announced on October 24, 2011, that it would not be renewing ''Combat Hospital'' for a second season. On December 16, 2011,
Shaw Media Shaw Media, Inc. was the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. It owned the Global Television Network, which broadcasts nationally via 13 television stations, as well as 19 specialty channels including Slice (TV channel), Slice ...
confirmed that ''Combat Hospital'' would not be renewed for another season due to their inability to find a new broadcast partner after ABC had opted not to continue with the series earlier that fall.


Plot

Set in
Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
in 2006, the series revolves around the life and work of doctors and nurses from the
International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...
, specifically from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and other allied countries at a military hospital.


Cast


Main cast

* Michelle Borth as
Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...
Medical Officer Major Rebecca Gordon,
Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...
*
Elias Koteas Elias Koteas (; ; born March 11, 1961) is a Canadian actor who has performed in lead and supporting roles in numerous films and television series. He won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film '' Ararat'' (20 ...
as Canadian Forces Medical Officer Commanding Officer Colonel Xavier Marks, Canadian Army (based on Major Marc Dauphin) *
Terry Chen Terence Chen (born February 3, 1975) is a Canadian actor. Early life Chen was born on February 3, 1975, in Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the ...
as
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
Captain (Doctor) Bobby Trang, trauma team leader *
Arnold Pinnock Arnold Pinnock (born December 10, 1967) is a Canadians, Canadian actor who is perhaps best known for his appearance as Paul Greebie, Casey's guidance counselor, in ''Life with Derek''. Pinnock was born in Birmingham, England. His career began wi ...
as Canadian Forces Nursing Officer, Chief of Nursing, Commander Will Royal,
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
* Deborah Kara Unger as
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...
psychiatrist Major Grace Pedersen *
Luke Mably Luke Mably is an English actor. Career Mably portrayed White in the thriller ''Exam'' under the direction of Stuart Hazeldine. He had a lead role in the 2010 supernatural drama television series ''The Gates''. He also played Prince/King Edvard ...
as British contract neurosurgeon Doctor Simon Hill * Ali Kazmi as Chaplain David Nedayal


Recurring cast

* Ellen Wong as Canadian Forces Nursing Officer Major Suzy Chao, Canadian Army * Hamza Jeetooa as Vans, Afghan translator *
Gord Rand Gord Rand is a Canadian actor and playwright. He is most noted for his recurring role as Det. Marty Duko in the television series ''Orphan Black'', for which he was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Performance in a Guest Role in a Dramatic ...
as Canadian Forces Medical Technician and Regimental Sergeant-Major, Chief Warrant Officer Graham Kelly, Canadian Army * Karan Oberoi as
United States Air Force Pararescue Pararescuemen (also known as Pararescue Jumpers or PJs) are United States Air Force Special operations, special operators who conduct personnel recovery and combat search and rescue operations as well as other missions for the U.S. military and ...
Jumper Talwar Mehra * Dwain Murphy as United States Air Force Pararescue Jumper Terrel Ford *
Husein Madhavji Husein "Huse" Madhavji (pronounced Ma-dav-gee; born July 19) is a Canadian actor and television personality. He is best known for his role as Dr. Shahir Hamza on the medical drama ''Saving Hope'' and as the former face of Star! Canada’s Entertai ...
as United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Max Prakash, Orthopedic Surgeon *
Adam Beach Adam Beach (born November 11, 1972) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Victor Joseph in '' Smoke Signals''; Frank Fencepost in '' Dance Me Outside''; Tommy on ''Walker, Texas Ranger''; Kickin' Wing in '' Joe Dirt''; U.S. Marin ...
as Snake Eater/Joe * Trenna Keating as Sgt. Hannah Corday * Sam Kalilieh as Dr. Tarzi * Lisa Berry as Capt. Pam Everwood, RN


Production

Jinder Oujla-Chalmers came up with the concept for ''Combat Hospital'' in 2008 and, together with Douglas Steinberg, pitched the show to
Canwest Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, ...
(now
Shaw Media Shaw Media, Inc. was the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. It owned the Global Television Network, which broadcasts nationally via 13 television stations, as well as 19 specialty channels including Slice (TV channel), Slice ...
). After the show was picked up for development, Oujla-Chalmers travelled to Afghanistan to conduct first-hand research at a small, forward-deployed military hospital. Oujla-Chalmers was able to use real images taken during the visit and stories heard from medical personnel to add realism to the show. Oujla-Chalmers and Steinberg brought the show to Sienna Films, who agreed to produce it and set up funding as a Canadian-British co-production with Artists Studio and Lookout Point in the UK. Canwest announced on July 9, 2010, that ''Combat Hospital'' was slated for production in the 2011–12 season. The budget for the first season was reported to be $2 million per episode. During pre-production,
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
was considered as a location for filming the series. Production on the series began in March 2011. The series was filmed at the former Consumers Glass factory in
Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...
, Ontario. The property had been converted into a 17,187 square metre indoor/outdoor set that recreated portions of the
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
Role 3 Hospital at Kandahar Airfield, as well as its surroundings. Filming was scheduled to continue until July 27, 2011. Post-production work was done in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. The first season has 13 episodes.


Broadcast

''Combat Hospital'' was broadcast in Canada on
Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...
. Throughout its initial broadcast the series was consistently performing better than CTV's '' Flashpoint'' and Global's ''
Rookie Blue ''Rookie Blue'' is a Canadian police procedural television series starring Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith. It was created by Morwyn Brebner, Tassie Cameron, and Ellen Vanstone. The series premiered on June 24, 2010, and aired on Global in ...
'', it was often the most watched scripted programme of the week in Canada. While only the twelfth episode was shown in the U.S. on August 30 both the eleventh and twelfth episodes were shown in Canada. In September 2011, Shaw Media began repeating the series on both Showcase and Showcase Diva. On December 16, while filming the New Year's Day special of '' Royal Canadian Air Farce'', cast member
Arnold Pinnock Arnold Pinnock (born December 10, 1967) is a Canadians, Canadian actor who is perhaps best known for his appearance as Paul Greebie, Casey's guidance counselor, in ''Life with Derek''. Pinnock was born in Birmingham, England. His career began wi ...
confirmed that Shaw Media had cancelled ''Combat Hospital'' as they were faced with the inability to find another broadcast partner to offset the expenses of the show.


International distribution

In early January 2011 ABC was in talks to purchase broadcast rights to the then-untitled project. Later, on January 20, 2011, it was reported that ABC had indeed purchased broadcast rights to the project. On March 25, 2011,
Shaw Media Shaw Media, Inc. was the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. It owned the Global Television Network, which broadcasts nationally via 13 television stations, as well as 19 specialty channels including Slice (TV channel), Slice ...
announced that the series would be
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...
in the United States by ABC. On August 24, 2011, ABC announced that they were skipping the eleventh episode of season 1 and moving the season finale date by one week, from September 13, 2011, to September 6, 2011. ABC announced on October 24, 2011, that they would not be commissioning a second season of ''Combat Hospital''. Outside of North America the series was distributed by
Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...
. ''Combat Hospital'' was shown in Hungary on PRO4 starting on April 1, 2012. In July 2013, it was shown in
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
on
TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...
as ''Hospital de campanya''.


Episodes


Reception

Overall, the series received mixed to negative reviews. John Doyle of ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' said that the show is neither the new ''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richa ...
'' for its lack of "snarky chat about the stupidity of war and governments that encourage war" nor is it ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
''-on-the-front-lines as there are no "lurid romantic entanglements". Doyle goes on to say, "It's the horrors of war and the awfulness of a combat hospital seen emphatically through the prism of TV drama." In concluding his review Doyle said, "In the matter of Afghanistan and military life there, if you want a gruelling experience, watch the news. ''Combat Hospital'' is the entertaining version." Matthew Gilbert of ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' found the show "is completely divorced from anything resembling real life." He said the premise is "exciting and, to some extent, incendiary" but that with "amateurish acting and paint-by-numbers writing" ''Combat Hospital'' and ''
Rookie Blue ''Rookie Blue'' is a Canadian police procedural television series starring Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith. It was created by Morwyn Brebner, Tassie Cameron, and Ellen Vanstone. The series premiered on June 24, 2010, and aired on Global in ...
'' "are summer filler of the laziest kind." David Wiegard of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' found ''Combat Hospital'' "makes a pretty compelling attempt" at portraying "the bloody reality of war" while also having all of the typical characters of a medical drama.


DVD releases

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...
released ''Combat Hospital'' on DVD in the United States on March 6, 2012, as part of their manufacture-on-demand service. It is not available for purchase in Canada. Mill Creek Entertainment announced the re-release of the series on DVD.


See also

* *


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Combat Hospital 2010s Canadian drama television series 2011 Canadian television series debuts 2011 Canadian television series endings American Broadcasting Company television dramas 2010s Canadian medical television series Global Television Network original programming Canadian English-language television shows Canadian military television series Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series by Corus Entertainment Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows set in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) in popular culture