HEALTH WARNING (MALPRACTICE, SERIES ONE)

© ITV & World Productions

The rise of Irish actress Niamh Algar continues with a lead role in an ITV medical thriller.

Grace Ofori-Attah's 'Malpractice' is another one of those panic attack inducing World Productions dramas - this time set in a Yorkshire NHS hospital.

Not only does it boast Algar in a lead role but it has one of England's hottest film and TV directors Philip Barrantini of 'Boiling Point' involved.

So why does it disappoint?

© ITV & World Productions

Algar plays Dr Lucy Edwards, an accident and emergency doctor under investigation for negligence over the death of Sherelle Armstrong's overdose patient, Edith Owusu.

Stressed out and under pressure, Lucy is faced with a nightmare shift with a blood splattered kid and an armed man bursting into A&R.

Forced to prioritise the wounded patient over Edith, she entrusts Priyanka Patel's junior doctor Ramya Morgan with her treatment - only for the patient to be administered the wrong dosage and die.

Ramya insists Lucy told her the wrong dose which she disputes.

© ITV & World Productions

However Edith's father, Brian Bovill's Sir Anthony Wumsu wields influence and secures a NHS investigation into his daughter's death.

Headed by Helen Behan's Dr Norma Callahan, her investigative partner is Jordan Kouame's Dr George Adjei - a former colleague of Lucy's.

Lucy, however, has other issues which she fears will come to light.

She's addicted to diazepam which she has been using to treat a shoulder injury.

© ITV & World Productions

As Doctors Callahan and Adjei dig deeper into practices in the A&E, Lucy's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic - often clashing with Ramya.

Eager to put the junior doctor in the frame, Lucy gets embarrassingly drunk at a medical awards gala.

She's also evasive when asked how she knew about an opioid patient was being admitted to the ward on the night of Edith's death.

Lucy starts to get twitchy about what the Trust investigators might discover and as the series unfolds she has good reason to be.

© ITV & World Productions

Callahan and Adeji start to raise some unsettling questions about her relationship with a GP, Douglas Hansell's Dr Rob Thonbury and the reason for a leave of absence during the COVID pandemic.

Lucy has a close friendship with James Pruefoy's senior consultant Dr Leo Harris but is there more to him than meets the eye?

How long will it be before her diazepam addiction comes to light and endangers her future in the hospital?

And can the family life she has built with her hipster husband, Lorne McFadyen's Tom and their toddler daughter, Liberty Edwards' Abi survive?

As British TV executives continue to hunt for a natural successor to 'Line of Duty' and 'Bodyguard,' 'Malpractice' duly serves up a flawed heroine, a rigorous investigation into misbehaviour, backbiting in the workplace and shocks galore over its five episode run.

© ITV & World Productions

But is it credible?

Ofori-Attah used to be a NHS doctor and there's no doubt that experience informs the way 'Malpractice' recreates the pressures faced by A&E staff.

However it doesn't quite convince in the same way that Adam Kay's BBC1 and AMC drama 'This Is Going To Hurt' did last year depicting the stresses and strains of an obstetrics and gynecology ward in a London NHS hospital.

A lot of that is down to the fact that it suffers from World Productions' addiction to credulity stretching plot twists and high stake stand-offs.

© ITV & World Productions

A significant character is killed off halfway through the show in a manner that doesn't feel necessary.

In fact it comes across more like a desperate bid to have a sensational plot development just for the hell of it.

A murky storyline about corruption in the medical profession is gradually revealed but it just feels overblown and not really convincing despite the best efforts of Algar and the rest of the cast.

Algar is always a vivacious screen presence and is comfortable playing a character who is flawed, troubled and cornered for much of the drama.

© ITV & World Productions

Pruefoy hits the right note too as Lucy's mentor.

Behan and Kouame make for a decent partnership as the investigators.

Patel is decent as the junior doctor who is out of her depth, while Hannah Walters impresses, as usual, as a matron Beth Relph who has her doubts about Lucy.

Scott Chambers amuses as another junior doctor, Oscar Beattie who's a little in awe of Lucy.

© ITV & World Productions

All of these performances and Barrantini's typically pacy, energetic direction certainly make 'Malpractice' watchable.

However the writer's insistence on serving up dramatic plot twists and high voltage cliffhangers deflects from the interesting idea at the heart of the show.

'Malpractice' could have been a hard hitting expose of the pressures NHS doctors, nurses and paramedics really find themselves in and the mistakes that can understandably happen.

However Ofori-Attah and World Productions send us instead on a goose chase and insist on going for cliffhangers at full tilt.

© ITV & World Productions

Instead of focusing on the sensational, 'Malpractice' would do better to remain rooted in reality.

In spite of the cast's best efforts, it's just another preposterous British television thriller.

It's disposable drama - a piece of fluff that could have been a lot more meaningful than it actually is.

Maybe with a second series in the works, they can focus on the story rather than sounding just bells and whistles for the sake of it.

('Malpractice' was broadcast on ITV from April 23-May 21, 2023)