HBO Max, the streaming service behind hits like The Sopranos and Game of Thrones, launches in the UK this week, bringing with it the acclaimed medical drama The Pitt. The show, which has been a hit in America since its debut, arrives almost six years after the platform first launched in the US.
Each season of The Pitt follows a single day in the emergency department of a Pittsburgh hospital, unfolding in real time like the thriller 24. The series stars Noah Wyle as Dr Robby, the department's leader, alongside a cast including Katherine LaNasa, Patrick Ball, Isa Briones and Shabana Azeez. The show tackles hot-button issues such as sex trafficking, racial inequality in healthcare and neurodivergence.
Created by R Scott Gemmill, a writer on ER, The Pitt has been praised for its unflinching realism and kinetic directing. The second season picks up after a mass shooting in the first, with Dr Robby planning a sabbatical and being shadowed by his tech-savvy replacement, Dr Al-Hashimi. The ER is flooded with cases ranging from a woman who superglued her eye shut to an abandoned baby, all building towards a bigger calamity.
While the show has been heralded as one of the great post-pandemic series, reviews note it is good rather than great. Noah Wyle is likeable in his role, and Katherine LaNasa's performance as charge nurse Dana is a standout. The series balances heartbreaking, shocking and amusing moments, though some social issue threads are less effective than political commentaries on insurance and immigration enforcement.
