Trauma: Season 1

New US medical series Trauma is a high concept, high octane blend of ER and Third Watch.

Based around the first responder paramedic team of San Francisco’s General Hospital, the show follows the lives of Nancy (the strong-willed female lead who has to be twice as tough as the men to survive in what is a male-dominated profession), Rabbit (the cavalier, maverick helicopter pilot), Marisa (the tough rookie co-pilot from the wrong side of the tracks, fresh from a stint in Afghanistan), Cameron (the solid, sensible heart of the team) and Glenn (the wet behind the ears newbie).

Character and plot-wise, this is pretty ‘join the dots’ stuff. There is a distinct lack of subtlety in the characterisations, whilst the storylines for each episode proceed from one spectacular yet somewhat implausible set piece accident to another, linked by scenes where we see those involved learning life lessons. All of which is so formulaic you imagine the show may in fact be written using a computer algorithm rather than actual humans.

Having said that, there is something compelling and admirable about the scale of the stunts on view here and the skill of the production team to make what is essentially a B-movie disaster format look so glossy on the screen. Very much a throw back to the ‘80s, Trauma is dumb but good looking.



Released on DVD on 4th October 2010 by Universal Playback.

> Buy the DVD boxset on Amazon.

Reviewed by Sam Monk.