There have been some truly stand out episodes and moments in Doctors recently and it remains one of my most favourite soaps – and my wife’s.  We have been constantly saddened (and frustrated) by the breakdown of Rob and Karen’s relationship and it was a truly stellar moment when, in the middle of a car park Karen lost it with Zara and then broken down on her.  She really needed it and Zara’s response was perfect.  But then, I do have a bit of a Zara bias, I have to confess.  My wife finds it a little annoying.

Another character I have really appreciated is the addition of Luca.  Not only has he injected a lot of fun into the show and just the right amount of the camp, I think it is really important that they have more than just Emma representing the LGBTQ+ community.  And Luca’s character has brought some great stories to the show in terms of his interaction with patients and recently, a brilliant discussion as to who owns the rainbow – the NHS or the gay community.  Funnily enough, it was a discussion my wife and I had had not that long before so we thought it was a really interesting point to be raised on television.

Luca’s point was that the rainbow has been ‘our’ symbol for a very long time (since 1978, in fact) and that while it was fine for everyone to commandeer it for the NHS during height of the pandemic, we would quite like it back please.  And I have to say, I agree!  It’s about identification, belonging, community… all of those things.  Somehow, it feels like the rainbow has been diluted or taken away when it is something very precious to us.  But these are all things that would only dare be given voice on a programme like Doctors.

And speaking of Luca, I have been blown away by his recent HIV storyline.  Firstly, the fact that every single member of staff knew, it was never discussed previously and there was not a single question over support and love.  There was not an ounce of sensationalism.  What there was, was so much education, explanation and reassurance to anyone who, for whatever reason might have questions or concerns.  One of my favourite moments was when Al challenged the vile, ignorant bigots protesting against Luca in the car park.  I was cheering him on and actually had to rewind the scene because I loved him so much!

Although I expressed so many times, while watching, “Surely people aren’t really like this now?” the sad fact is, that yes, probably there are people out there who would respond in similar ways to the people who protested or wrote awful things online about Luca working at The Mill, just because he has HIV (with an undetectable viral load).  This story coincided with World AIDS Day, which was really special, although Zara did completely the wrong thing by eventually sending Luca home for a few days to take the pressure off, as that sends the wrong message out.  It tells the bigots that they are correct.  On the plus side, that did lead to a Zara and Emma argument, which led to drunk Emma and Zara, which is one of my most favourite things ever!

I think it will take Luca a long time to recover from this and we have seen a really different side to him as he has struggled to cope with this very difficult situation.  But he has held his head high and his colleagues in the most part have supported him throughout.  This has been one of the best stories Doctors have ever done.  They should be very proud.

Another standout story recently has involved Bear Sylvester and his mother Makeda, who nearly died.  When Makeda was rushed into hospital, it turned out that she had not gone through with a procedure that would have caught her condition, which didn’t need to get anywhere near as bad as it did.  The reason she didn’t go ahead with the procedure was because of the vile, racist abuse she received from the nurse who treated her.  The scenes from the flashback episode were so deeply uncomfortable.

My heart was crying out, “How could this happen?”

My head was saying, “They’re showing this because this happens.”

It was just devastating.

When Bear found out the truth, he confronted the staff involved and it some of the tensest scenes, the staff went even further by racially abusing him!  They treated him so appallingly!  It was just hideous to watch.  He reached for his NHS badge and they behaved like he was about to pull a weapon out.  He was trying to explain his point and they treated him like he was in the wrong.  By the end of the episode, he was outside the hospital in tears and I was in tears too.

Another episode I would just like to mention was a standalone episode (they have been doing some great standalones recently) where Jimmi took a FME shift for Emma.  He was then caught up with guilt (and blamed Emma) when his next door neighbour was killed in a domestic violence incident.  She ran from her house to his for help but he wasn’t there when he should have been and her ex-boyfriend killed her.  Had he been home, he might have been able to help.  It was a really interesting discussion about the decisions and choices we make, not to mention a really challenging episode about domestic violence.

The one thing that can most definitely be said about Doctors is that the stories are so interesting and they are not afraid to take on a challenge, despite their time slot.  I have said it before and I will say it again – Doctors is underrated for the array of wonderful stories they tell and for the amazing, charming, talented cast they have.