The Doctors (South Korean TV series)

The Doctors
Promotional poster
Also known asDoctor Crush
Hangul
닥터스
Literal meaningDoctors
Revised RomanizationDakteoseu
McCune–ReischauerTakt'ŏsŭ
Genre
Written byHa Myung-hee
Directed byOh Chung-hwan
Starring
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes20
Production
Executive producers
  • Han Jung-hwan
  • Kim Hee-yeol
ProducerKim Jung-mi
Running time60 minutes
Production companyPan Entertainment
Budget₩5.1 billion[1]
Original release
NetworkSBS TV
ReleaseJune 20 (2016-06-20) –
August 23, 2016 (2016-08-23)
Related
Kalp Atışı [tr] (2017–2018)

The Doctors[2] (Korean닥터스; RRDakteoseu; lit. Doctors) is a 2016 South Korean medical drama starring Kim Rae-won and Park Shin-hye. It aired on SBS TV from June 20 to August 23, 2016, every Monday and Tuesday at 22:00 (KST) for 20 episodes.[3][4][5][6][7]

The drama was a hit and averaged 18.40% in audience ratings.[8][9] In particular, Park's character as a troubled teenager turned charismatic doctor was very popular among the audiences for her action scenes and straightforward lines.[10][11]

Synopsis

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Yoo Hye-jung (Park Shin-hye) was a headstrong girl in high school with a prickly, gangster personality. Due to her many childhood scars, Hye-jung keeps her heart closed towards other people. However, she changes after meeting her mentor Hong Ji-hong (Kim Rae-won), who plays a key role in transforming her life from a "hopeless" delinquent to a compassionate doctor. They part ways due to a report of their close relationship, which was reported by a fellow student but subsequently meet again after 13 years, when Yoo Hye-jung had become a successful doctor.[5]

Cast

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Main

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  • Kim Rae-won as Hong Ji-hong
    • Gil Jung-woo as child Hong Ji-hong
    • Lomon as teen Hong Ji-hong
Hong Ji-hong, whose birth name was Lee Ji-hong before his adoption, is a hard working man who lost his parents at a young age in a car accident. He was adopted later on in his life, graduated from a prestigious medical school and started out as a doctor. However, a medical accident while he was working as a surgeon made him step back and he restarts his career as a biology teacher. He cares for teenagers, especially his students since he had a rough life as a teenager. This makes him interested in the life of rebellious Yoo Hye-jung when she decides to turn over a new leaf and actually work hard in school. It is after being separated from her that he realizes she is the one he has fallen in love with. When he and Yoo Hye-jung cross paths 13 years later, he who is now a neurosurgeon confesses his feelings for her.
Yoo Hye-jung is a successful neurosurgeon. She was a delinquent in high school, known for her wayward personality. Having gone through a tough childhood, she found it hard to trust anyone. The only person she trusted and loved is her grandmother, who never failed to support her. However, her thoughts about others changed after meeting teacher Hong Ji-hong, who helped her find her goal in life.
Jung Yoon-do is a neurosurgeon as well as a visiting staff who is from a wealthy family. He is not good with rough situations in society. However, he knows how to handle his work with strictness. He finds himself attracted to Yoo Hye-jung, who is very different from him.
Jin Seo-woo is a neurosurgeon and also friends-turned-enemies with Yoo Hye-jung. She liked Hong Ji-Hong, but seeing the growing relationship between Hong Ji-hong and Yoo Hye-jung, she causes trouble for them. This in turn caused them to part ways. Forgetting about Hong, she starts liking Jung Yoon-do but again feels inferior to Hye Jung due to Yoon-do's attraction towards Hye-jung. Eventually, she reconciled with Hye-jung and restored their friendship. Additionally, in the end, she fell for Young-gook and became his girlfriend.

Supporting

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People around Hong Ji-hong

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  • Lee Ho-jae as Hong Doo-sik – Ji-hong's adoptive father and Gookil Hospital's chairman.
  • Yoo Da-in as Jo In-joo – General Surgery's specialist.

People around Yoo Hye-jung

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  • Kim Young-ae as Kang Mal-soon (cameo) – Hye-jung's grandmother.
  • Jung Hae-kyun as Yoo Min-ho – Hye-jung and Yoo-na's biological father.
  • Park Ji-a as Lee Ga-jin – Hye-jung's stepmother and Yoo-na's mother.
  • Han Bo-bae as Yoo Yoo-na – Hye-jung's younger half-sister.
  • Ji Soo as Kim Soo-cheol (Guest: Ep. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7–8) – Hye-jung's friend.[13]
  • Moon Ji-in as Cheon Soon-hee – Hye-jung's best friend and Seo-woo's friend.

People around Jin Seo-woo

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  • Jeon Gook-hwan [ko] as Jin Sung-jong – Seo-woo's grandfather and Gookil Hospital's vice president.
  • Um Hyo-sup as Jin Myung-hoon – Seo-woo's father and Gookil Hospital's director.
  • Yoon Hae-young as Yoon Ji-young – Seo-woo's mother.

People of Gookil Hospital

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  • Jang Hyun-sung as Kim Tae-ho – Gookil Hospital's deputy director and Head of Neurosurgery
  • Kim Kang-hyun [ko] as Kang Kyung-joon – Neurosurgery's 4th year resident doctor.
  • Baek Sung-hyun as Pi Young-gook – Neurosurgery's 3rd year resident doctor and Seo-woo's friend who had a long-time crush on her.
  • Jo Hyun-sik as Ahn Joong-dae – Neurosurgery's 2nd year resident doctor.
  • Kim Min-seok as Choi Kang-soo – Neurosurgery's 1st year resident doctor.[14]
  • Jung Jin [ko] as Baek Ho-min – Head of General Surgery and Hospital's public relations chief.
  • Lee Seon-ho as Jung Pa-ran – General Surgery's teacher, Ji-hong's friend and Yoon-do's uncle.
  • Choi Sung-jae as Hwangbo Tae-yang – General Surgery's 1st year resident doctor.
  • Pyo Ye-jin as Hyun Soo-jin – 5th year nurse.
  • Ji Yi-soo as Yoo Byul – 2nd year nurse.

Extended

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Special appearances

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Production

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The Doctors was based on the screenplay by Ha Myung-hee which is one of the winners in Broadcasting Content Promotion Foundation (BCPF)'s 3rd Find the Desert's Shooting Star Screenplay Competition, held in 2010.[16] Then titled as Female Thug Hye-jung (Korean여깡패 혜정; RRYeokkangpae Hyejeong), the series was in talks to air on KBS 2TV's Monday-Tuesday prime time slot in 2015 following the end of Healer, however, it did not push through.[17] HB Entertainment [ko] (My Love from the Star, You're All Surrounded) was supposed to produce the drama, while PD Mo Wan-il [ko] (Smile Again, Dream High 2) was in talks to direct.

First script reading took place on April 28, 2016, at SBS Ilsan Production Studios in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.[18][unreliable source?][19]

The series reunited Park Shin-hye and Baek Sung-hyun, who previously played the younger versions of Han Jung-suh and Cha Song-joo, respectively, in the 2003 hit drama, Stairway to Heaven.[20] It also reunited Park Shin-hye and Yoon Kyun-sang who previously worked together in the 2014 hit drama, Pinocchio.

In the United States, the drama was aired in the Los Angeles DMA free, over-the-air on Asian American-oriented TV channel, LA 18 KSCI-TV (channel 18) with English subtitles, Monday through Tuesday at 9:00pm, from July 18 to September 20, 2016.[21]

Original soundtrack

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Doctors OST
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
ReleasedAugust 1, 2016
GenreSoundtrack, Pop
LanguageKorean, English
LabelPan Entertainment, RIAK

Track listings

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No.TitleArtistLength
1."No Way"Park Yong-in & Kwon Soon-il (Urban Zakapa)3:44
2."Sunflower"Younha ft. Kassy3:30
3."That Love (그 애)"Jungyup (Brown Eyed Soul)3:42
4."You're Pretty (넌 예뻐)"Jungho (2MUCH)3:11
5."Sun Shower (여우비)"Se O (Jelly Cookie)4:40
6."No Way (Inst.)" 3:44
7."Sunflower (Inst.)" 3:30
8."That Love (그 애) (Inst.)" 3:42
9."You're Pretty (넌 예뻐) (Inst.)" 3:43
10."Sun Shower (여우비) (Inst.)" 4:40
11."School"Various Artist2:34
12."From Me to You"Various Artist2:55
13."Beautiful Lies"Various Artist2:09
14."Chromatic Surgery"Various Artist4:08
15."Doctor's Memory"Various Artist1:52
16."Healing Heart"Various Artist2:20
17."Into the Time"Various Artist2:20
18."Table Death"Various Artist2:06
19."Pitter-Patter"Various Artist1:36
20."Awake Surgery"Various Artist2:48
21."Hurt and Heart"Various Artist2:10
22."Sad Gold Spoon"Various Artist2:48
23."Good-bye My Fellow"Various Artist3:00
24."Code Blue"Various Artist2:45
25."Doctors in Love"Various Artist1:45

Charted songs

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Chart performance
Title Year Peak chart positions Sales [22] Remarks
Gaon[23]
"No Way" (Park Yong In, Kwon Soon Il (Urban Zakapa)) 2016 24
  • KOR (DL): 212,642+
Part 1
"Sunflower" (Younha ft. Kassy) 72
  • KOR (DL): 159,597+
Part 2
"It's Love" (Jung Yup (Brown Eyed Soul)) 36
  • KOR (DL): 179,405+
Part 3

Ratings

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Ep. Broadcast date Average audience share
TNmS[24] AGB Nielsen[25]
Nationwide Seoul Nationwide Seoul
1 June 20, 2016 11.4% (4th) 15.1% (4th) 12.9% (4th) 14.7% (4th)
2 June 21, 2016 12.4% (4th) 16.9% (3rd) 14.2% (4th) 16.2% (4th)
3 June 27, 2016 12.8% (4th) 16.5% (3rd) 14.4% (3rd) 16.9% (3rd)
4 June 28, 2016 14.6% (3rd) 17.8% (2nd) 15.6% (3rd) 18.0% (2nd)
5 July 4, 2016 16.1% (3rd) 20.7% (1st) 18.4% (3rd) 20.2% (3rd)
6 July 5, 2016 16.8% (3rd) 20.8% (1st) 19.7% (3rd) 21.6% (2nd)
7 July 11, 2016 18.4% (3rd) 22.3% (1st) 18.8% (3rd) 21.3% (2nd)
8 July 12, 2016 17.8% (3rd) 20.3% (2nd) 19.2% (2nd) 21.1% (2nd)
9 July 18, 2016 16.8% (3rd) 20.0% (2nd) 19.4% (3rd) 21.5% (2nd)
10 July 19, 2016 17.2% (4th) 19.9% (2nd) 19.3% (2nd) 22.6% (2nd)
11 July 25, 2016 17.2% (3rd) 20.2% (1st) 19.2% (3rd) 21.9% (2nd)
12 July 26, 2016 18.2% (3rd) 20.9% (1st) 18.7% (3rd) 21.7% (2nd)
13 August 1, 2016 17.6% (4th) 20.6% (1st) 18.5% (3rd) 20.8% (1st)
14 August 2, 2016 17.2% (3rd) 21.2% (1st) 19.6% (2nd) 21.8% (1st)
15 August 8, 2016 20.0% (3rd) 23.3% (1st) 21.3% (2nd) 23.1% (1st)
16 August 9, 2016 18.4% (2nd) 21.4% (1st) 20.6% (2nd) 22.4% (1st)
17 August 15, 2016 20.6% (2nd) 23.8% (1st) 20.8% (2nd) 22.8% (1st)
18 August 22, 2016[a] 16.2% (4th) 19.7% (2nd) 17.8% (4th) 19.6% (4th)
19 16.1% (5th) 19.5% (3rd) 19.5% (3rd) 22.0% (2nd)
20 August 23, 2016 17.9% (3rd) 21.2% (1st) 20.2% (2nd) 22.0% (1st)
Average 16.69% 20.11% 18.41% 20.61%
  • In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2016 Grand Prize (Daesang) Kim Rae-won Nominated
Park Shin-hye Nominated
Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Kim Rae-won Nominated
Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Park Shin-hye Nominated
Best New Actor Yoon Kyun-sang Won
Best Couple Award Kim Rae-won and Park Shin-hye Nominated
Grand Prize (Daesang) Kim Rae-won Nominated
Best Drama The Doctors Nominated
Top Excellence Award, Actor Jang Hyun-sung Won
Top Excellence Award, Actress Park Shin-hye Nominated
1st Asia Artist Awards Best Artist Award, Actor Kim Rae-won Nominated
Best Artist Award, Actress Park Shin-hye Won
Grand Prize (Daesang) Nominated
Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Genre & Fantasy Drama Kim Rae-won Won
Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Genre & Fantasy Drama Park Shin-hye Won
Excellence Award, Actor in a Genre Drama Yoon Kyun-sang Nominated
Special Award, Actor in a Genre Drama Jang Hyun-sung Nominated
Special Award, Actress in a Genre Drama Lee Sung-kyung Nominated
Moon Ji-in Nominated
Top 10 Stars Award Park Shin-hye Won
New Star Award Kim Min-seok Won
Moon Ji-in Won
Best Couple Award Kim Rae-won and Park Shin-hye Nominated
Idol Academy Award – Best Kiss Nominated
2017 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actress Park Shin-hye Nominated [27][28]
Best New Actor Kim Min-seok Won
Seoul International Drama Awards Outstanding Korean Drama The Doctors Won [29]

Remake

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In 2017, Kalp Atışı ("Heart beat") an adaptation of the series, was made by the Turkish network Show TV. It aired for 1 season.

Notes

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  1. ^ Episode 18 wasn't aired on August 16, 2016 due to the broadcast of 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The episode was aired on August 22, 2016 instead.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Pan Entertainment signs contract worth 5.1 bln won. Reuters". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  2. ^ "Official English title on SBS Drama's YouTube channel". SBS via YouTube. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  3. ^ Ahn, Sung-mi (March 29, 2016). "Park Shin-hye, Kim Rae-won to star in new drama". Kpop Herald. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  4. ^ Bahk, Eun-ji (April 1, 2016). "Park Shin-hye, Kim Rae-won star in new drama "Doctors"". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Lee, Woo-in (March 31, 2016). 김래원♥박신혜, '닥터스' 출연 확정 "사제 러브스토리 기대"[공식]. TV Report (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  6. ^ "'Doctors': the next 'Descendants of Sun'?". The Korea Times. June 17, 2016. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  7. ^ "Even veteran actors are rookies in TV series 'Doctors'". Yonhap News Agency. June 15, 2016. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  8. ^ "'Doctors' beats rival dramas in viewership". Kpop Herald. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  9. ^ "'Doctors' tops weekly TV popularity chart again". Yonhap News Agency. August 23, 2016. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  10. ^ "Park Sin-hye's 'girl-crush' character a big drawcard". The Korea Times. July 17, 2016. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  11. ^ "Drama characters heighten 'girl crush' syndrome". Kpop Herald. July 29, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  12. ^ "Lee Sung-kyung to be Park Shin-hye's rival in 'Doctors'". Kpop Herald. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  13. ^ "Actor Kim Ji-soo cast as Park Shin-hye's first love". Kpop Herald. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  14. ^ "Kim Min-suk to join Park Shin-hye in 'Doctors'". Kpop Herald. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  15. ^ "Actor Nam Koong-min makes cameo in 'Doctors'". Kpop Herald. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  16. ^ "제3회 드라마극본공모전 시상식 성료". December 29, 2010. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  17. ^ "하명희 작가, KBS '여깡패 혜정'으로 복귀". September 28, 2014. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  18. ^ Foxy. "Kim Rae Won, Park Shin Hye, Kim Min Seok & more during 1st script reading for 'Doctors'". Kpopnewz. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  19. ^ "SBS' 'Doctors' starring Kim Rae Won, Park Shin Hye holds first script reading; Plot and main character info revealed". yibada.com. May 18, 2016. Archived from the original on May 19, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  20. ^ "Park Shin Hye has a Stairway to Heaven reunion with actor Baek Sung Hyun". DramaFever. July 1, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ "Doctors - LA18 Mon/Tues Korean Drama". la18.tv (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  22. ^ "Gaon Download Chart". Gaon. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  23. ^ "Gaon Digital Chart". Gaon. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  24. ^ "TNMS Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". TNMS Ratings (in Korean). Archived from the original on November 28, 2013. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  25. ^ "AGB Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  26. ^ "The SBS broadcasting schedule on August 16, 2016". SBS (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  27. ^ Han, In-goo (April 7, 2017). "공유·박보검·남궁민·한석규…백상예술대상 男TV연기상 4파전". Star Today (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  28. ^ Kim, So-yeon (May 4, 2017). "'Guardian,' 'The Handmaiden' win big at Baeksang Awards". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  29. ^ Lee, Seung-gil (September 7, 2017). "[SDA2017] '구르미', 한류드라마 최우수상…우수상은 'W'·'닥터스'". MyDaily (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 7, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
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