‘Thrilling’ ITV medical drama cancelled after 2 series despite 6,000,000 tuning in

A gritty medical drama that drew in millions of viewers has been unexpectedly cancelled by ITV.

Malpractice was created by former NHS doctor Grace Ofori-Attah, who took inspiration from her own career. It first aired in April 2023 and came back earlier this year for a second instalment.

Season 1 follows the story of Dr Lucinda Edwards (Niamh Algar), who ends up being investigated by the Medical Investigation Unit after an overdose victim tragically dies under her care.

It raises questions around corruption and drug trafficking within the hospital system, while exposing the pressure and strain these doctors are under.

The second season focuses on a different area of medicine, but follows a similar storyline. After a terrible incident involving a postnatal mother, Psychiatric registrar Dr James Ford (Tom Hughes) becomes the focus of a medical investigation.

Despite the launch episode of the first series being watched by 6.7million viewers over 28 days and the second series attracting around three million, it hasn’t been renewed.

A spokesperson for ITV told Metro: ‘We’re very proud of the two series of Malpractice, and grateful to everyone who supported the show.

‘Commissioning decisions involve many factors, and while there are no plans for a third series, we’d like to extend our thanks to Grace Ofori-Attah and the team at World Productions for producing two brilliant series.’

Ofori-Attan told Bafta she wanted to ‘show the other side of medicine’ as opposed to shows that feature doctors as ‘quite glamorous heroes dashing around, saving all these lives’.

Viewers online agreed it was an accurate portrayal – Linda Weaver on Google Reviews promised: ‘I trained as a nurse and what you see of the hectic life in an accident and emergency department and the pressure the doctors are under is very much true to real life.’

Even those without these insights enjoyed it. Lynne Dean wrote: ‘I have no connection with anything medical apart from rare visits to my doctor.

‘I found this a thrilling story, the pace never stopped, it did not seem unreal even though the events happening to Lucinda just multiplied.’

And Ruth Gendi commented: ‘Great thrillers, kept you guessing and wanting justice to be served.

‘If either of these is based on any level of truth, then quite frankly, they could also be deemed horror genre, because the story lines are pretty horrific.’

Both series of Malpractice are available to stream on ITVX.

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