House MD

[sally_maria]

I've been even quieter than usual over the last couple of weeks,  at least partly because I've been rapidly acquiring a new fandom. I'd read about it on-line, so when I saw that House MD was going to be on Channel 5 I thought I'd take a look. It didn't take me long to fall.

It's a bit like a cross between CSI (which I enjoy watching but have never got into the fandom for) and ER, which I used to watch long ago but gave up when I found I didn't like the characters any more.

The scruffy-looking chap in the icon is Dr Gregory House, a brilliant doctor who doesn't like patients and has a wonderful line in snark. (In the first episode, when asked - didn't he go into medicine to treat patients -  replied,  - we go into medicine to treat illnesses, treating patients is what makes most doctors miserable. ;-) ) He has 3 junior doctors aka the ducklings who do most of the patient contact, hold their hands etc. while House tries to work out what unlikely ailment the patient has this week (Clue: it's not vasculitus, it's never vasculitus.) He has a running battle with his boss, Dr Lisa Cuddy, who wants him to put in his fair share of work in the hospital clinic, (treat normal patients? boorring) and a best friend, Dr James Wilson, played by Robert Sean Leonard. (Who, by the way, must have a portrait in his attic, as I swear he doesn't look any different to the way he did in Kenneth Branagh's Much Do About Nothing.)

I've always enjoyed this kind of medical drama, but it's the characters that really make this series stand out for me. I just hope the second season that starts in August will not be a disappointment.