TV series operates on a different level

On a sand-swept road in a war-torn Western Asian country, a white jeep with a medical sign whizzes past. When it arrives at a local rescue base, a female doctor springs out of the vehicle and escorts a pregnant 28-year-old patient who is suffering hemorrhagic shock to the operating theater. However, the doctor is facing a difficult choice: Save the patient's life by removing her uterus or take the far riskier option of performing an artery repair procedure.

Simultaneously, in a Shanghai hospital, a young physician insists on following his surgery plan for an elderly patient with a rare malignant tumor, despite opposition from his fellow doctors at the cardiothoracic surgery division.

With the footage switching between the two locations, the story of the two scenarios unfolds.

Thank You, Doctor is a 40-episode TV series which has recently been broadcast on CCTV-8, as well as the streaming sites Tencent Video and iQiyi.

Starring Yang Mi as the female doctor and Bai Yu as the male physician, the drama follows how they join hands with other medical specialists in a race against time to save patients in the emergency intensive care unit of a Shanghai hospital.

For director Zhang Rui, who co-helms the drama with Yu Bo, the series is aimed at exploring the frequently discussed topic about what defines a good doctor.

Zhang says the two protagonists represent two different attitudes toward life and illness, with Yang's character tending to respect the choices of her patients, while Bai's character, likes things to run like a well-oiled machine, believing patients should follow the professional suggestions of the doctors.

Consisting of around 70 cases, the drama touches on a variety of critical situations in the emergency intensive care unit, enabling audiences to see the warmth and love surrounding those bravely fighting different illnesses.

Such touching tales include that of a prestigious scholar with a primary cardiac tumor who insists on undergoing a risky surgery, because he wants to spend more time with his wife; and an 8-year-old girl with terminal uremia who comforts her father as the end of life draws near.

"We hope the drama can convey positive and warm messages about the importance of emotional caring in hospitals, and help the audience better understand that doctors and nurses are also people just like us. Witnessing grief and disease every day, they have to face their own stressful and exhausting moments," says Zhang.

In conjunction with the Population Culture Development Center of the National Health Commission, the series began shooting in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, in November 2019. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, filming was sporadic and took nearly two years to complete. One of the main difficulties for the producers was that some of the child actors grew up, resulting in reshoots or script revision.

"Most of the cases featured in the drama are inspired by real-life stories. With the production of this drama, most of our cast and crew say that they have realized how fragile life is and now cherish the time spent with their loved ones much more," says Zhang.

Most of the series is shot in the newly decorated, but not yet opened area of an actual hospital, and to ensure the details mirrored reality, the show established a team of 16 doctors to act as consultants. Working in rotation, they helped examine the script and monitor scenes depicting medical treatment for accuracy.

Following a regional outbreak of COVID-19, the crew were unable to use the hospital as a set any longer, so a life-size replica of the hospital's emergency department was built. It took the team 25 days, but the construction ensured that unfinished scenes were completed, says Gao Chen, the drama's chief producer.

Gao recalls that the show features many tailored special-effects, with all the readings on the medical devices added during postproduction.

"All the signs should match the condition of the patients, but the actors and actresses were healthy, so the prop team put pieces of green cloth over the screens and monitors, replacing them with 'corrected' images using digital technology," explains Gao.

A veteran producer known for hits like The Interpreter and Eternal Love, Gao says he was hooked by the script of Thank You, Doctor when reading the script, adapted from the popular online novel ICU 48 Hours.

"Getting older, I have seen more of my relatives and friends need to visit the hospital a lot more. Compared to the past, we have obtained a deeper understanding about numerous medical conditions, as well as the meaning of life and death," says Gao, adding this is partly what provided the impetus for him to produce the drama.

"The doctor-patient relationship has undergone a transition over the years. With the improvement of Chinese people's understanding about health and medicine, patients and doctors are more like 'allies' teaming up to fight against illness," says Gao.

Currently, the drama is streaming in more than 10 countries and regions, including Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea and North America, accumulating widespread interest from foreign audiences.