Ivan Radford | On 30, Jun 2024

This review was originally published in March 2019 and is based on both seasons.

If you thought BBC One medical drama Trust Me, in which a woman pretended to be a doctor, was endearingly ludicrous, wait until you see Porters, from the same writer. Dan Sefton’s sitcom also stems from a similar premise, as we follow Simon Porter (the likeable Edward Easton), a new porter at St Etheldreda’s Hospital who dreams of being a doctor – and hopes he can work himself up the chain. The only things in his way? A complete lack of qualifications, an inability to handle blood, and the fact that’s not how medical degrees work.

It’s impossible not to compare any hospital sitcom to Scrubs, and there are some disappointingly familiar elements, as our hero is once again a middle-class white male who pines for a woman out of his reach (Lucy, played by Claudia Jessie). But Porters has its own tone and feel, and doesn’t waste any time in administering a healthy flood of jokes. Both primarily stem from Susan Wokoma as head porter Frankie, who not only delivers quips to your funny bone but also calls our protagonist out on being yet another white, middle-class protagonist. Even Lucy (played with likeable indifference by Jessie) isn’t afraid to put him in his place.

Throw in Rutger Hauer – yes, really – as an eccentric veteran of the hospital who lurks in the corridors and delivers strangely philosophical advice, plus a non-stop string of increasingly daft scenarios, and you get a promising new comedy. The three-part Season 1 boasts guest stars that include Matt Horne as a suicidal patient and Kelsey Grammer as a medical expert related to a deceased patient, as well as Sanjeev Bhaskar, who is hilarious as a transplant surgeon who pretends to be incompetent – or does he?

Season 2 shakes things up by introducing Lucy’s fiancee, Dr McKenzie (James Atherton), and a new porter, Anthony. Played by the ever-brilliant Daniel Mays, the swaggering, brash outsider immediately clashes with Frankie, as they try to get the best cut of the hospital’s black market for perfume. Their excellent interactions keep the laughs coming enough to make you want a repeat prescription.

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