Ashleymyers
Enjoyed both Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm but to have Hamm play the older Radcliffe? I mean he's graduated medical school and working as a young doctor so he'd be in his 20's and 5'5" but in his forties he's 6'2"? Dark comedy/drama - it was different lol and Radcliffe does a brilliant Jon Hamm imitation. On the serious side. It's interesting to see how the young doctor begins his journey optimistically and wanting to change the world, how he becomes jaded and the old doctor realizes his regrets and wishes like many of us do that we could go back and talk to our younger self and change the course our lives.
Claudio Carvalho
In 1917, during the Russian Revolution, Dr. Vladmir "Nika" Bomgard (Daniel Radcliffe) has just graduated in Moscow and is sent to run the Muryevo Hospital in the middle of nowhere to replace the deceased Dr. Leopold Leopoldovich. Along the days, the lonely Mikhail discusses with his team from by the assistant physician and two midwives the means to treat the illness of the local residents. Occasionally he is visited by his older self that tries to warn and prevent him from making mistakes that he will regret. When he has a pain in the stomach, Vladmir becomes addicted in morphine. Meanwhile, he is under investigation of the police seventeen years later. The overrated "A Young Doctor's Notebook & Other Stories" is an awful TV Series with absolute bad taste. The first four episode are terrible and people should be afraid of any viewer that finds humor in this type of show. After watching this four episodes on DVD, it is not worthwhile buying or watching the following ones. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "Diário de um Jovem Médico" ("Diary of a Doctor")
jensmickey
It takes very few series or movies to keep me focused, and fewer to make me laugh out loud as this one did. Maybe this is why i decided to write my first review ever about this series; it is THAT good. Tagging this series as a drama is very wrong though; the story, the way it is presented and the acting itself makes it a proper comedy, and one of which quality and wittiness i do not see much of lately (unfortunately). I have not read the book it is based upon, but it does not matter in this case as the show stands for itself and might as well do it with great pride. The script was written with a loving hand clearly, because the dialogues are tears-in-your-eyes-laugh-out-hysterically-loud funny. The acting is superb and the actors fit their characters perfectly. The whole mix makes this series a great joy and a burst of optimism for life and for the future of TV.. Well done!
kam-the-sage
Based all on what I've seen of Series 1 only. What to say, eh? Writing this whilst I watch episode 4, again. That's my biggest endorsement of all. Each time watching adds to the depth of it all. And I want to watch it again. People will define this show by many non essential things, the accuracy to the texts its based off, the cast of English actors and of course that this series is defined by Daniel Radcliffe playing the main character. None of it matters for the show we get, as a stand alone, it stands high.The premise, in 1934 Moscow the Older Doctor is recounting his years as Young Doctor who, fresh out of his doctorate, is sent to run a hospital in the middle of nowhere. From here we see the doctor grow from his naïve book smarts into the stark reality of his situation.To start it's a comedy for sure, but it holds plenty of drama. Both come equally when needed and play off each other well, think a tragic comedy and you have the basic idea. The jokes range from the minor slapstick to the darkest laughter, and easily not for people who can't laugh at the tragedy that life holds. They're all there for a purpose, the laughter sets up and releases the tension creating a good pace throughout the episodes. The themes are extensive and deep, addiction, loneliness, life experiences, death, healthcare through doctors and patients, and of course medicine. And those are just the heavy themes, there are even themes of sexuality, nature vs artificiality, mentors, past mistakes and many more. It's well written, it shows a lot and doesn't tell you everything. Characters are well defined, each play their part in the narrative and the dialogue is very well done. Both of the Doctors grow over the series, where from the begin they are totally different by the end. There's a great retrospective segment in the last episode, and by this time we're shown the vast differences between the two. The production is great, you feel like you're there, in the cold, in the operating room, the locations are alive in their own way. The cast act their roles well enough, some characters don't have the breadth of depth as they might, but this is the doctors story and not theirs of course.I come away from A Young Doctor's Notebook thinking. How can I laugh at tragedy? These stories are based off the experience of the original author, Bulgakov, when he was a doctor himself and we can only imagine the horror of healthcare back then and how it relates to modern medicine. Nietzche says we humans laugh because we realise we are going to die. And here I am now, watching it again, realising that the best pain killer will always be laughter in the face of that horror.
