Bodies

Bodies begins as fresh-faced resident Rob Lake starts work in the Ob Gyn unit of a large city hospital. The workload is enormous and the pressure is on. Shortly after his arrival, he comes to suspect that his new boss, Roger Hurley, is incompetent. Accidents happen — in fact Rob is himself responsible for the death of a patient — but with Hurley, accidents happen a lot.

When one of Hurley's blunders results in the permanent disability of a young mother and the death of her newborn, Rob considers blowing the whistle. While he is struggling with his conscience, Dr. Maria Orton, the anesthetist on the case, comes forward to officially complain about Hurley. Rob watches in disbelief as the doctors close ranks against her - even those that agree Hurley is a risk, like rival surgical consultant Tony Whitman. They are clearly working under a different oath. First rule is, do no harm - to your career. He hates to admit it, but Rob realizes that his future at the hospital lies in the hands of Hurley, and to go against the flow will end his career before it begins.

Rob's life is further complicated when he falls for co-worker, nursing supervisor Donna Rix, who also happens to be married. Their white-hot secret meetings in his on-call room lessen his isolation, until he realizes that being with a married woman is almost as bad as the predicament he faces at work.

Bodies portrays the all-too-real dilemmas of those who work in professional healthcare and offers an authentic insight into hospital working life - the furtive comings and goings in the corridors, the gossip, the backstabbing, and the black humor which help to keep them sane. Uncomfortably realistic though it may be, this is undeniably powerful stuff made all the more dramatic by being set in a unit which should be all about new life.