Littlelep I guess I didn't realize I would be watching what is and has been described as an Irish soap opera when I first clicked on the title on Acorn.com. Besides being addictive, it is totally nauseating and guilt producing. I could watch (NOT ENJOY) five series, where one character after another first gives hope that they can be normal and likable, only to fall by the wayside and become villainous or unredeemable. Perhaps in later series, there are some who do not fit that description, but that seems to be the case early on.I began to skip past any segment with Dan, and then those with Clodagh, and then the awful character of Liam's son, Ian. Then it just became intolerable, and as much as I wanted and waited for the writers to do in Dan and that pipsqueak Ian -- and to get rid of Clodagh and even Cara, I could not take one more minute!

pensman The show has two main characters Dr. Cathy Costello (Aisling O'Sullivan) and Mr. Dan Woodhouse (Dominic Mafham). Cathy is driven to make Clarence Street Clinic successful. This is a private clinic originally owned with three partners: Cathy, her husband Ed, and Cathy's father a successful and well known surgeon. After Cathy's husband leaves her, he sells his share to Dan an up and coming plastic surgeon who is at odds with Cathy and her father. The partnership becomes more complicated when Cathy's father dies unexpectedly and then leaves his share to a girlfriend who has been completely unknown to Cathy. It is a surprise and one she does not deal with well with. Add in the problems of the staff, and there are a multitude of problems, and staff changes all with new problems, and you have a fascinating soap opera. One thing for sure, the way everyone blabs in this clinic the concept of patient- doctor confidentiality is a fiction. Let's try a biased description of a few major characters. Dr. Cathy Costello (Aisling O'Sullivan) who never met a conclusion she couldn't jump to. Mr. Dan Woodhouse (Dominic Mafham) goes from drug using smuck to a pretty decent guy who unfortunately has a fatal attraction. . Patrick Murray (Gary Lydon) goes from gullible, self-pitying, half-arsed counselor to incredibly gullible, self-pitying, half-arsed counselor. Daisy O'Callaghan (Amy Huberman) goes from dippy alcohol abusing receptionist to dippy, clue-less receptionist to self-righteous prig partner after inheriting Cathy's shares in the clinic. Surprise, Cathy dies. Keelin Geraghty (Rachel Pilkington) goes from so-so physical therapist to butinsky therapist who should have lost her license several times. Aine Flanagan (Gertrude Montgomery) goes from serious practice manager to receptionist after Cathy showing typical bad choice believes her long time employee might be a thief. Brendan Davenport (Chris O'Dowd) goes from slightly odd but highly competent accountant to wealthy but losing in love adult who chooses to live his life. Cara Madigan (Dawn Bradfield) goes from busy body manipulative instigating bitch receptionist to busy body manipulative instigating bitch practice manager. Dr. Clodagh Delaney (Leigh Arnold) goes from beginning mistake making doctor acupuncturist to settled in full staff mistake making doctor acupuncturist. This can be a very addictive series and all seven seasons are currently running on Acorn TV. There are some abrupt character shifts and it can be infuriating when their absence isn't explained. But the new arrivals tend to be interesting and bring their own issues to the clinic. Only a few of the original cast survive all seven season and it can be surprising to see who makes the cut. As this is an Irish cast, at times the accents are so thick it can leave the viewer (American) confused as to what was said. Add differences in meaning of words and the confusion increases. A fag is a cigarette; the title Mr. is used to identify a surgeon as opposed to Dr. which references a GP; the post is the mail; brilliant means a good idea. After a while you (American) will catch on. Just as binge worthy as any Netflix series.

Terry Peck This isn't for everybody. Too many viewers (drowning in American slick slop) will need a cheaper fix. But for those who understand how a quality soap is made, it is close to heaven.The acting is universally good, even great at times. The direction shows competence even when the script occasionally slows. But the scriptwriters do a superb job: never preaching, always entertaining.Ireland thank you. It's not Wilde, but it's not supposed to be. And I have fallen in love with almost every character - beautiful, sad and wicked - just because they are so believable.I have never before watched a medical soap which practically makes you feel like a voyeur in a real life clinic. Of course, reality would be unwatchable. The Clinic is sometimes mesmerising.

mulhollandman When I first read in a local Irish paper that we were to get an Irish Medical drama my thoughts instantly went to those terrible medical dramas that were in the form of aussie soap operas. However I was pleasantly surprised by the high entertainment in it. Up until then the Irish networks had tried their best to give us some high quality entertainment but kept on falling sort of their target.The first night I sat down with a couple of beers and began to watch it I was curious as to who the cast were. I looked up the Internet Movie Database Base that night and discovered that I had seen most of them before in terrible shows but this was their best effort. The standard of acting throughout was of a very high quality. Each actor slipped into their roles very comfortably indeed and this was the making of it really. From the first show to the last one each actor/character developed individually each having a crisis in most episodes but it was a recurring theme in each episode that was the development of the character/overall story you see. But to be totally honest with you the script was pretty weak. The script had all the usual medical drama's going on in it and their was nothing new but it was that the acting and the emotions displayed on screen to us that made the show worthwhile.It has taken the Irish network bosses nearly 50 years to provide us with a great drama and they have finally succeeded in doing so. It will be interesting to see if there is a series two and where it will take us.