
''
Doctors
Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to:
Titles and occupations
* Physician, a medical practitioner
* Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree
** Doctorate
** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...
'' is a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
medical
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
soap opera
A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
which began broadcasting on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
on 26 March 2000. Set in the fictional
West Midlands town of Letherbridge, the soap follows the lives of the staff and patients of the Mill Health Centre, a fictional
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
doctor's surgery, as well as its sister surgery located at a nearby university campus. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in ''Doctors'' in 2015, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the programme's executive producer, Will Trotter, or his successor,
Mike Hobson. January sees
Tracey Buxton (Natasha James) be introduced as the aunt of
Ayesha Lee (
Laura Rollins), with
Heather Irvine (
Rebecca Grant) making her debut in March.
Sid Vere (
Ashley Rice joins the series in April as a general practitioner at the Mill, and
Michael Burnett Michael Burnett may refer to:
* Mikey Burnett, American mixed martial artist
* Mike Burnett, English rugby league player
* Michael Burnett (''Doctors''), a fictional character
{{hndis, Burnett, Michael ...
(Milo Twomey) begins appearing the next month.
Sean Donoghue (
Shane O'Meara) arrives in July as the brother of
Niamh Donoghue (
Jessica Regan).
Hayden Connor (Sean Browne) debuts in September as a nurse. October sees
Ruhma Hanif
Ruhma Carter (also Hanif) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'', portrayed by Bharti Patel. Ruhma's storylines in the programme have included her relationship with Heston Carter ( Owen Brenman), dealing with her partial ...
(
Bharti Patel
Bharti Patel is an English actress, known for portraying the role of midwife Ruhma Carter on the BBC soap opera ''Doctors''. For her portrayal of Ruhma, she was nominated for numerous awards at the National Television Awards, British Soap Awar ...
) join the series as a new midwife at the Mill, and her arrival is followed by that of her children,
Alia (Mandy Thandi, later
Lisa Ambalavanar
Lisa Hayley Ambalavanar is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Alia Hanif in the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'' (2018–2019) and Mia in the iPlayer and Netflix series '' The A List'' (2018–present).
Early life
Ambalavanar was born ...
) and
Shak (Sunjay Midda).
Anthony Harker
''Doctors (2000 TV series), Doctors'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British Medical drama, medical soap opera which began broadcasting on BBC One on 26 March 2000. Set in the fictional West Midlands (region), West Midlands town of Leth ...
(
Adam Astill
Adam Astill is an English actor, known for his roles as Simon Bennett in the BBC television drama series '' Mistresses'' (2008–2010), Dan Hamilton in the BBC medical drama ''Holby City'' (2011–2012), Anthony Harker in the BBC soap opera ''D ...
) joins in December as the new practice manager of the Mill. Additionally, multiple
other characters
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), ...
appeared throughout the two years.
Tracey Buxton
Tracey Buxton, portrayed by Natasha James, first appeared from 20 January 2015 and made her last appearance on 10 March 2015. Tracey is the aunt of
Ayesha Lee (
Laura Rollins) that lives in
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. Having not seen her for ten years, Ayesha does not trust her, but Tracey convinces Ayesha that she will stick around to support her and other niece, Sierra Lee (Kaya Louise-Stewart). When Sierra misbehaves at nursery, Tracey reveals to Ayesha that she is considering adopting her. Ayesha argues back, claiming Tracey just wants to steal her. However, Ayesha later agrees with the idea, and Tracey leaves for Florida with Sierra.
Heather Irvine
Heather Irvine, portrayed by
Rebecca Grant, appeared from 2 March 2015 to 1 May 2015. When
Jimmi Clay
Dr. Jimmi Clay is a fictional character from the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''Doctors (2000 TV series), Doctors'', portrayed by Adrian Lewis Morgan. The actor joined the cast shortly after his role in ''Holby City'' came to an end. Morgan was a fa ...
(
Adrian Lewis Morgan) is nearly hit by falling masonry, Heather saves him, and disappears afterwards. Heather then sees Jimmi in a pub, and the pair exchange numbers. Heather falls pregnant, she reveals to Jimmi that he is not the father, but is instead Phil Dickinson's (Phil Lawson). Phil turns up at their house, and when he begins to get physical, Jimmi threatens to call the police, and Heather tells him the baby is not his. Heather later disappears, deciding to be with Phil instead of Jimmi.
Sid Vere
Dr. Sid Vere, portrayed by Ashley Rice, began appearing on 27 April 2015. Sid is a
general practitioner
A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice.
GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...
and
first responder
A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency. First responders typically include Law enforcement, law enforcement officers (co ...
at The Mill. For his portrayal of Sid, Rice was longlisted for
Best Actor at the
British Soap Awards
The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV (TV network), ITV. The trophies given to the winners are made from metal a ...
in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Michael Burnett
Dr Michael Burnett, portrayed by Milo Twomey, appeared from 5 May to 26 June 2015. Michael is a doctor that
Zara Carmichael (
Elisabeth Dermot Walsh) takes
Joe Granger-Carmichael (Roman Law) to. Michael refers Joe to an audiologist and ophthalmologist.
Sean Donoghue
Sean Donoghue, portrayed by
Shane O'Meara, first appeared on 29 July 2015 and made his last appearance on 12 August 2015. Sean is introduced as the younger brother of established character
Niamh Donoghue (
Jessica Regan). Sean smiles at a male waiter, and
Ayesha Lee (
Laura Rollins) puts her hand on his as a sign of support for his sexuality, but Niamh misinterprets the gesture as flirtation. After Ayesha and
Emma Reid (
Dido Miles) inform Niamh that Sean is
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
, she supports him. Sean received a job offer from a company 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 ...
, and leaves Letherbridge.
Hayden Connor
Hayden Connor, portrayed by Sean Browne, appeared from 11 September 2015 to 13 October 2015. Hayden is a nurse, and on his first day, he is wrongfully accused of stealing a patient's money. Hayden is addicted to drugs, and while out for a drink with
Ayesha Lee (
Laura Rollins), he spikes her drink in order to make her go clubbing with him. When Ayesha sees white powder on Hayden's nose, she punches him and threatens to report him to
Howard Bellamy (
Ian Kelsey
Ian Kelsey (born 17 December 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Dave Glover in the ITV (TV channel), ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Patrick Spiller in the BBC One, BBC medical drama ''Casualty (TV series), Casualty'', DI Rich ...
). Hayden disappears and abandons his patients, so Ayesha reports him to Howard.
Ruhma Carter
Ruhma Carter (also Hanif), portrayed by
Bharti Patel
Bharti Patel is an English actress, known for portraying the role of midwife Ruhma Carter on the BBC soap opera ''Doctors''. For her portrayal of Ruhma, she was nominated for numerous awards at the National Television Awards, British Soap Awar ...
, began appearing on 15 October 2015.
Ruhma is a
Senior Sister and
consultant midwife. For her role as Ruhma, Patel has been nominated for
numerous awards, including a longlist nomination in the Newcomer category at the
22nd National Television Awards and a longlist nomination for the
British Soap Award for Best Actress in 2019.
Alia Hanif
Alia Hanif first appeared on 14 December 2015 and made her last appearance on 3 September 2019. Alia was initially portrayed by Mandy Thandi from 2015 to 2017, with
Lisa Ambalavanar
Lisa Hayley Ambalavanar is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Alia Hanif in the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'' (2018–2019) and Mia in the iPlayer and Netflix series '' The A List'' (2018–present).
Early life
Ambalavanar was born ...
taking on the role from 2018 to 2019. Alia was introduced alongside her brother,
Shak Hanif
''Doctors'' is a British medical soap opera which began broadcasting on BBC One on 26 March 2000. Set in the fictional West Midlands town of Letherbridge, the soap follows the lives of the staff and patients of the Mill Health Centre, a fictio ...
(Sunjay Midda), when her mother,
Ruhma Carter (
Bharti Patel
Bharti Patel is an English actress, known for portraying the role of midwife Ruhma Carter on the BBC soap opera ''Doctors''. For her portrayal of Ruhma, she was nominated for numerous awards at the National Television Awards, British Soap Awar ...
), arrives with the pair at
Heston Carter's (
Owen Brenman) house.
Alia, Shak and Heston bond through cooking a meal together for Ruhma before she gets home.
Alia gets into a relationship with
Tariq Amiri (Chaneil Kular), and when he films them having sex, he betrays her after the breakup by posting it online.
After he is released, he is involved in a
hit and run
In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the criminal act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions.
Additional obligation
In many jurisdictions, there ma ...
, and Alia is named as a suspect, until she is cleared. Alia visits Tariq in hospital, and when he apologises and tries to reconcile with her, Alia insists that she does not want any involvement with him. While studying for
A Level
The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
exams and fasting for
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
, Alia works too hard and faints from exhaustion. Alia recuperates at home, and after passing her exams, she leaves home to attend
Glasgow University
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
to study medicine and become a doctor.
Ambalavanar recalled that on her first day on set, she was very overwhelmed due to meeting so many people. She stated that Patel, who plays Alia's mother Ruhma, took her "under her wing", and accredited Patel with helping her to learn "pretty much everything" she knows. Ambalavanar stated that her favourite scenes to film are when Alia is with Shak, since she enjoys working with Midda, and the pair get along well. She described working on ''Doctors'' as "fast", and that the soap is filmed quickly due to having a small core cast. She explained that it means she has to "nail a scene" in one or two takes. She also said that she found learning the medical terminology included within the scripts to be difficult, since she is "very different to Alia", referring to her character studying medicine. She added that in order to perfect her pronunciation of medical and scientific terms, she researches them online.
Shak Hanif
Shak Hanif, portrayed by Sunjay Midda, first appeared on 14 December 2015 and made his final appearance on 25 October 2021. Shak is introduced alongside sister
Alia (Mandy Thandi) when his mother,
Ruhma Carter (
Bharti Patel
Bharti Patel is an English actress, known for portraying the role of midwife Ruhma Carter on the BBC soap opera ''Doctors''. For her portrayal of Ruhma, she was nominated for numerous awards at the National Television Awards, British Soap Awar ...
), arrives with the pair at
Heston Carter's
Owen Brenman's house.
Shak gets off to a bad start with Heston, the pair bond when making a meal with Alia.
After Alia's boyfriend, Tariq Amiri (Chaneil Kular), is arrested for
revenge porn
Revenge porn is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent, with the punitive intention to create public humiliation or character assassination out of revenge against the victim. The material ma ...
, he is later hit by a car,
and Shak is suspected to be the culprit, and faces aggression from police officers.
A year later, Shak reveals that he is doing a summer placement with the local police, to Ruhma's disapproval. After the placement ends, he begins a police
apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
while studying at university. When Shak visits Ruhma, he notices that she is at home rather than at work. He calls
Daniel Granger (
Matthew Chambers
Matthew Guy Charles Chambers (born 20 August 1968) is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Daniel Granger (Doctors), Daniel Granger in the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''Doctors (2000 TV series), Doctors''.
Early and personal life
Matt ...
), who informs him that she has been suspended. He promises to stay with Ruhma, and takes care of her during
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
. While outside of the house on the phone to Alia, he hears a commotion from inside the house. He finds
Mark Rees (Kiefer Moriarty) about to assault Ruhma. He takes hold of Mark, and punches him to the ground. He holds him down by the neck, and gets Ruhma to call the police.
Anthony Harker
Anthony Harker, portrayed by
Adam Astill
Adam Astill is an English actor, known for his roles as Simon Bennett in the BBC television drama series '' Mistresses'' (2008–2010), Dan Hamilton in the BBC medical drama ''Holby City'' (2011–2012), Anthony Harker in the BBC soap opera ''D ...
, first appeared on 18 December 2015 and made his final appearance on 20 April 2016. Anthony is introduced as a potential choice for practice manager of the Mill, and he is chosen instead of
Mrs Tembe
Winifred Tembe is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'', portrayed by Lorna Laidlaw. She is introduced on 5 January 2011 as a new receptionist at the fictional Mill Health Centre as a replacement for Ruth Pearce ( Selina Ch ...
(
Lorna Laidlaw
Lorna Laidlaw (born 1 February 1963) is an English actress. She has appeared on television as Mrs Tembe in the BBC medical soap opera ''Doctors'' from 2009 to 2019 and as Aggie Bailey in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' between 2019 ...
), his only other competition for the role. He takes a dislike to Mrs Tembe, and encourages her to work at another practice, which he achieves. When a merger between the Mill and King's Green, another local surgery, is suggested, Anthony is supportive. He calls a meeting between himself and the partners at the Mill;
Jimmi Clay
Dr. Jimmi Clay is a fictional character from the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''Doctors (2000 TV series), Doctors'', portrayed by Adrian Lewis Morgan. The actor joined the cast shortly after his role in ''Holby City'' came to an end. Morgan was a fa ...
(
Adrian Lewis Morgan),
Daniel Granger (
Matthew Chambers
Matthew Guy Charles Chambers (born 20 August 1968) is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Daniel Granger (Doctors), Daniel Granger in the BBC One, BBC soap opera ''Doctors (2000 TV series), Doctors''.
Early and personal life
Matt ...
) and
Zara Carmichael (
Elisabeth Dermot Walsh), he tries to convince them that the merger would benefit all of them. Daniel is later shocked when he hears Anthony talking about bribery in order to achieve the merger. Daniel and Zara attend a dinner at Anthony's house, where they meet his wife, Trish (
Kim Tiddy). They bond over their plans for the Mill, but when the pair talk badly about Mrs Tembe, Zara jumps to her defence. Days later, Anthony calls a meeting to finalise the merger of the surgeries. He is excited to reveal his plans of becoming a partner, expecting the other three partners to be supportive, but he is shocked when the three of them vote against the idea. Daniel then provides evidence of Anthony's bribery, and the partners then dismiss Anthony from the Mill.
For his portrayal of the role, Astill was nominated in the category of Villain of the Year at the
2016 British Soap Awards. Laidlaw, who portrayed Mrs Tembe, noted the big reaction from viewers to Anthony forcing her character out of the Mill. She accredited the reaction to Astill's portrayal of the character, stating that the character is "so evil that people really want to get rid of him". She also praised his acting skills, and stated that in real life, he is "the most lovely, sweetest man", so when viewers hate him, she said that "to create that dislike in such a short amount of time is a real skill". Following his exit from ''Doctors'', Astill stated that as practice manager, Anthony did a good job "on paper" due to rising patient figures, but as a person, he did not treat the staff well. He felt that Anthony was not "out and out evil", commenting specifically on Anthony's friendship with colleague
Valerie Pitman (
Sarah Moyle) since she had cancer. He explained this is due to Anthony's mother also having cancer. He jokingly gave a "complete unreserved apology" to the viewers of the series for the way Anthony treated other characters, specifically Mrs Tembe, but hinted that Anthony "might return" in the future.
Other characters
References
{{Doctors, year
Doctors
Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to:
Titles and occupations
* Physician, a medical practitioner
* Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree
** Doctorate
** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
*, Doctors