Malpractice fans were "hooked" on the intense medical drama after the first episode last night (Sunday, April 23).
The opening episode of Malpractice was already jam-packed with dramatic twists and desperate decision-making as smart yet exhausted registrar Dr Lucinda Edwards (Niamh Algar) worked a nightmare shift at a busy Yorkshire hospital.
Lucinda was already faced with an absent consultant and an inexperienced colleague during her busy shift, before patient Edith Owusu was brought in following a suspected opioid overdose.
But this was only the start of Lucinda's trouble and her shift plunged into uncontrollable chaos when an armed gunman suddenly burst through the hospital waiting room, demanding medical attention for his child who had been shot.
Lucinda calmly negotiated with the gunman until he eventually backed down and the seriously injured boy was rushed in for life-saving surgery.
A frantic Lucinda was then forced to make a difficult decision when there were no available beds left on the ward. Deeming Edith as the least critically ill, Lucinda decided to move her out of A&E to make way for the gunshot victim.
Lucinda left Edith in the care of junior doctor Ramya Morgan (Priyanka Patel), who was clearly uncomfortable with taking on the responsibility as Lucinda gave her instructions on how to treat the patient.
But with Lucinda needing to get back to her shooting emergency, there was no time to write down the instructions or fully check that Ramya understood them and we also saw Lucinda change Edith’s notes to 'deliberate' rather than 'accidental overdose.'
In a devastating turn of events, Ramya administered the wrong treatment by mistake and Edith died, while Lucinda managed to save the child's life.
As Lucinda desperately performed CPR on Edith, she blamed the tragedy on Ramya and furiously pushed her.
And when Edith's family determined that her death was the result of medical malpractice, Lucinda’s behaviour and decisions become the subject of an investigation by the Medical Investigation Unit conducted by Dr Norma Callahan (Helen Behan) and Lucinda's former colleague Dr George Adjei (Jordan Kouamé).
Throughout the episode, Lucinda's life begins to unravel as some devastating and unexpected secrets come to light.
Fans heavily praised Malpractice and are already gripped by the first episode...
I'm fully hooked on #Malpractice already its brilliant. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼April 23, 2023
#Malpractice you got me hooked 👀 it’s like line of duty meets casualty 👏👏👏April 23, 2023
Omg #Malpractice is so good, im hooked already and @NiamhAlgar is absolutely phenomenal 😍 🙌 i 100% recommend watchingApril 23, 2023
ITV providing another character to fall in love with 😍This show has me hooked already!! #MalpracticeApril 23, 2023
The next episode of Malpractice airs on Sunday, April 30 at 9pm on ITV1. It is also available to watch as a boxset on ITVX.