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Showcasing Stress-Filled Reality of Emergency Medicine, Gritty Hospital Drama ‘KRANK Berlin’ Strives for Authenticity (EXCLUSIVE)
Director Alex Schaad ('Skin Deep') and Samuel Jefferson are giving the medical genre a bold, modern take.
While medical dramas have long been a favorite staple on German TV, a new series helmed by Alex Schaad, director of the award-winning fantasy romance “Skin Deep,” and penned by British writer Samuel Jefferson looks set to give the genre a bold, modern take. For Jefferson, who worked as an emergency physician with the NHS in London before leaving the medical profession to embark on a writing career, “KRANK Berlin” proved an ideal opportunity. Jefferson cites “Trainspotting” and “ER” as major references in developing “KRANK Berlin.” Unlike the more sterile medical dramas set in pristine clinics often seen on German TV, “KRANK Berlin” aims for a more authentic feel, from the run-down hospital – a vast set built in an abandoned East Berlin sports and recreation complex known as the SEZ – to the stressed-out doctors working at their limits while dealing with such social issues as drug addiction, racism and violence in Neukölln, a tough, culturally diverse, working-class districts.
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