I couldn’t help but feel like, “Hartklop” is Mzansi’s response to Shonda Rhimes’s award-winning medical drama, “Grey’s Anatomy”.
And, no, this isn’t a dig at the new show on kykNET but rather a compliment. After all, while the SA TV landscape is laden with offerings that lean towards comedy, crime thrillers and or romance, medical dramas aren’t on that list.
So, for that, kudos to the channel and Quizzical Pictures for delivering a show that viewers are invested in, thanks to the stellar casting and layered character development.
Set in a fictional world, where the staff at Beyers Naudé Academic Hospital deal with the patients that come through their doors.
But while they are passionate about what they do, personal challenges are stitched into the fabric of their professional lives.
The key characters include, Dr. Veronica Pietersen (Renate Stuurman), who is shouldering the weight of running the household at home with her husband having lost his job, and Dr. Suzanne de Jongh (Marlee van der Merwe).
Then there is, Dr. Jolene Joubert (Leandie Du Randt), Dr. Louw van Onselen (David Louw) and Dr. Daniel Strydom (Jacques Bessenger). All of them are dealing with personal setbacks even though they try not to wear them on their sleeves.
This brings us to the first-year residents: Dr. Karima Salie (Carla Classen), who wants to move past her conservative background and is quite the spitfire, her BFF Dr. Elanie Breytenbach (Simoné Pretorius), who, despite being born with a silver spoon, pulls her weight, and Dr. Fezile Nodada (Oros Mampofu), who doesn’t speak Afrikaans but does understand the language and is pretty sharp when it comes to making a diagnosis.
That’s not forgetting, Anke Dempsey (Christel van den Bergh), a highly skilled nurse in the emergency unit who doesn’t suffer fools easily.
The supporting cast boasts names like, Arno Marais, Christo Davids, Rika Sennett, Thulani Mtsweni, Susan Coetzer, Vusi Thanda, Esmeralda Bihl, Christo Davids, Elma Postma, Francois Jacobs and Bouwer Bosch.
The drama captures the chaos that unfolds in the emergency room, where the staff deals with interesting, challenging and unique cases.
And, sometimes, treating them hits a little close to home.
Of the two episodes I got to watch, I was drawn into the storyline. The writers ensured each character had plenty of depth to help churn out the drama.
Some of the challenges include infidelity, jealousy and insecurity, underpinned by professional sabotage and a GBV inference.
Let’s say, the hospital staff weave a complex web of frustration as they are pulled in different directions. But there are wins to offset those.
Also, there is a very clever cross-reference to “Binnelanders”, a soapie of a similar ilk, dropped into the narrative.
Overall, this is an engaging series, where the attention to detail is clearly of paramount importance as the actors don’t miss a beat with their performances and jargon.
∎“Hartklop” is a sincere, heartwarming and entertaining drama.