《外科医生奉达熙》

This is my favourite TV show at the moment. Korean TV shows have really progressed leaps and bounds these few years. Not only are there new actors and actresses for almost every new show (although the incumbent famous celebrities are still around), these newbies have very, very solid acting skills. They are so good in their acting that you do not even realise that they are acting; they are so believeable in their roles. This is unlike our local artistes who, after all these years, still seem so fake and contrived in their roles.

This show "Surgeon Feng Daxi" revolves around a few interns in a korean hospital. Serials revolving around hospitals are not new. Hongkong's "Healing Hearts" have had their parts 2 and parts 3 broadcasted over the years. However, "Healing Hearts" to me is more a play on the lives and emotions of the main actors but glosses over the medical details.

"Surgeon Feng Daxi" goes in depth on the trials and tribulations of not only the interns but the senior surgeons as well as they lead the team of interns. Real medical terms are used and, I suspect, real case studies of surgical incidents. I always watch the show with my laptop on, and continually search wikipedia for the medical terms used. In the episode shown yesterday, a very experienced surgeon Dr An Zhongjin accidentally cut off a throat nerve of a opera singer in an operation to remove cancer cells -- the singer will never sing again. The doctor standing beside had already warned Dr An to be careful. The look of disbelief, regret and shock flashed through Dr An's face in that one or two seconds as he held the removed nerve in his hands. That was powerful acting.

The actors are not the pretty faces like the earlier korean shows. They are quite presentable and believable as doctors and real people (like you and me) facing up to the obstacles in life like everybody else.

The last episode will be shown on Channel 55 the coming Sunday. If you had not watched the serial, the is the last chance to catch it (replay of last episode on Saturday afternoon) or you will have to get the DVD.