The Royal

The Royal
The Royal intro.
GenreMedical drama
StarringJulian Ovenden
Zoie Kennedy
Robert Daws
Amy Robbins
Wendy Craig
Ian Carmichael
Opening theme"Somebody Help Me" by The Spencer Davis Group, sung by Michael Starke
Ending theme"Somebody Help Me" (instrumental) by The Spencer Davis Group
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series8
No. of episodes87 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time60 minutes
Production companyITV Studios
Original release
NetworkITV
Release19 January 2003 (2003-01-19) –
31 July 2011 (2011-07-31)
Related
Heartbeat
The Royal Today
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Royal is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the staff at the fictional "St Aidan's Royal Free Hospital", a National Health Service hospital serving the fictional rural seaside town of Elsinby and its surrounding area. The programme was a spin-off of ITV's period drama series Heartbeat and the first three series featured crossovers with Heartbeat and appearances by its cast members. From the start of the fourth series, the crossover elements were removed, and The Royal focussed on stories involving its own cast.

The series initially began with its cast including Ian Carmichael, Wendy Craig, Robert Daws and Amy Robbins, and gradually expanded. Much of the outdoor scenes were primarily shot within North Yorkshire, including within Whitby and Scarborough, with interior shots filmed at both The Leeds Studios and St Luke's Hospital, Bradford. The programme remained popular on television until its cancellation, generating its own spin-off, The Royal Today, with episodes later repeated on ITV3.