New documentary series ‘The Hospital: In the Deep End’ premiering tonight on SBS
Australian TV icons Costa Georgiadis, Melissa Leong and Samuel Johnson delve into our public health system in SBS's new three-part documentary series, produced by WA production company Smashing Films.
How healthy is our health system? Australian icons Costa Georgiadis, Melissa Leong and Samuel Johnson go beyond the headlines to find out in three-part documentary series The Hospital: In The Deep End, premiering tonight on SBS and SBS on Demand at 8:40pm.
Produced by WA production company Smashing Films, this ground-breaking series follows host of Gardening Australia Costa Georgiadis, food writer and TV host Melissa Leong, and actor Samuel Johnson as they are thrown out of their comfort zones and onto St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney’s frontline.
The Hospital: In The Deep End sees Costa, Melissa and Sam put to work for a week at one of the country’s busiest and most well-known hospitals. From drug and alcohol treatment, heart transplants, mental health wards and brain surgery, nothing is off limits. They will meet hospital staff at their most capable and patients at their most vulnerable. The pressures are intense, the outcomes at times uncertain, and the care factor is turned up high.
“What’s exciting about the series is that this is the story behind the headlines. With remarkable access to one of Australia’s busiest hospitals, the story of these three intrepid well-known Australians embarking on a fish out of water experience has created a raw and unflinching insight into the health system. It also asks challenging questions about the public health service today and into the future.” said Bethan Arwel-Lewis, SBS Commissioning Editor.
“Screen Australia is proud to support this eye-opening documentary with extraordinary, touching and life-affirming stories from the front line of public healthcare in Australia. Melissa, Costa and Samuel each take us on deeply personal journeys as they explore timely and thought-provoking issues within the healthcare system. The Hospital: In The Deep End really shines a light on the tireless efforts of our outstanding health workers and will bring audiences closer than ever before to the critical health support they provide in some of the most difficult circumstances.” said Richard Huddleston, Screen Australia Head of Documentary.
The series is the first project from new WA production company, Smashing Films, founded by international award-winning Executive Producer and Creative Director, Dan Brown. Under production company Joined Up Films, Dan executive produced a number of WA documentary projects including Keeping Hope for NITV, Me and My Tourette’s, What Does Australia Really Think About… and The Truth About Anxiety with Celia Pacquola for SBS.
In addition to Dan, the creative team includes Writer, Director and Series Producer, Anthony Barwell (What Does Australia Really Think About…), with Jo Siddiqui serving as Supervising Producer.
“Our public health system is regarded as one of the best in the world, but headlines suggest that the pressures on it are continuing to build, and the cracks are starting to show. This is something we wanted to explore. Our health is the most important thing we have. Are we approaching a situation where it may not be there to look after us when we really need it?” said Dan Brown, Smashing Films Creative Director and Executive Producer.
“Everyone has their own complex experiences with health and healthcare, and we’re grateful to the team at Smashing Films for fearlessly diving into the realities of a system we can often take for granted. The raw encounters of Costa Georgiadis, Melissa Leong, and Samuel Johnson bring genuine heart to the series as they each gain a unique understanding of how Australia’s hospitals and extraordinary frontline workers are coping. We anticipate this new series striking a chord with audiences nationwide.” said Melissa Hayward, Screenwest Documentary Executive.
Production Credit: The Hospital: In The Deep End is a Smashing Films production for SBS. Principal production funding from Screen Australia and SBS. Financed with support from Screenwest and Lotterywest.
The Hospital: In The Deep End will be subtitled on SBS On Demand in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean. All episodes will be available with audio description.
The Hospital: In The Deep End premieres tonight on SBS and SBS On Demand. The three-part series continues weekly with episodes one and two airing on SBS at 8:40pm and episode three airing at 8:30pm. All episodes available to stream on SBS On Demand from Thursdays.
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