| Genre: | Sitcom |
| Creator: | Peter Learmouth |
| Director: | David Askey John Kaye Cooper |
| Starring: | Nichola McAuliffe Duncan Preston Marji Campi |
| Theme Music Composer: | David Cullen |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 7 |
| Num Episodes: | 50 |
| Executive Producer: | Humphrey Barclay Andy Harries David Liddiment Al Mitchell David Shanks Antony Wood |
| Producer: | Humphrey Barclay |
| Location: | Lister Hospital, Stevenage, Hertfordshire |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes (including commercials) |
| Company: | Humphrey Barclay Productions Granada Television |
| Network: | ITV |
Surgical Spirit is a British television sitcom starring Nichola McAuliffe and Duncan Preston that aired from 14 April 1989 to 7 July 1995. It was written by Annie Bruce, Raymond Dixon, Graeme Garden, Peter Learmouth, Paul McKenzie and Annie Wood. It was made for the ITV network by Humphrey Barclay Productions for Granada Television. In January 2022, Forces TV started showing all 50 episodes of Surgical Spirit, while the first two series were made available on BritBox in April 2022.[1]
The series was based around Sheila Sabatini, a senior surgeon at the Gillies Hospital, whose verbal skills have most people running for cover as her tongue is as sharp as her scalpel. She dominated the operating theatre, while at home she was divorcing her Italian husband, Remo, with whom she had a son, Daniel. Sheila was also a gossip, often gossiping with her best friend, theatre administrator Joyce Watson.
One of the major themes in the programme was her developing relationship with Jonathan Haslam, the anaesthetist. At the end of the sixth series, they married and she had become director of surgery, while her son had become a medical student at the hospital, much to her annoyance.
The outside shots were of Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Additional filming locations were in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
Granada Television decided to decommission the programme after the conclusion of the seventh series.
All seven series of Surgical Spirit have now been released on DVD. An 8-disc set of the complete series has also been released.
| DVD | Year(s) | Release date (Region 2) | Release date (Region 4) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete Series 1 | 1989 | 28 May 2007 | 3 November 2011[2] |
| The Complete Series 2 | 1990 | 4 May 2009 | |
| The Complete Series 3 | 1991 | 17 August 2009 | |
| The Complete Series 4 | 1992 | 18 January 2010 | |
| The Complete Series 5 | 1993 | 19 April 2010 | |
| The Complete Series 6 | 1994 | 5 July 2010 | |
| The Complete Series 7 | 1995 | 23 August 2010 | |
| The Complete Series | 1989-1995 | 4 October 2010 | |