Malpractice star teases ‘very intense' second series after major cast shake up on hit ITV drama

The Sun

04-05-2025

A STAR from Malpractice has teased a 'very intense' second series after a major cast shake up.
The hit ITV drama will return to screens tonight for a highly anticipated follow-up installment.
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However, Niamh Algar will not be returning to the series as the popular character, Dr. Lucinda Edwards.
Instead, the second series will tell a brand new story as the medical investigation unit will be tasked with probing a brand new case.
Former Victoria actor Tom Hughes has joined the cast as mental health consultant, Dr James Ford.
However, Jordan Kouamé and Helen Behan will reprise their roles as Dr. George Adje and Dr. Norma Callahan respectively.
But Helen as teased that fans could look forward to an even more 'intense' case with more 'tension' in the forthcoming edition.
She told The Sun Online in an exclusive chat:"For me, for looking at series one, being set in A&E, and being so high octane all the time that, of course, was very intense.
"But there's something slightly more intense about looking underneath the rock, looking, you know, at the psychological aspect, looking at mental health.
"The way in which this is shot that sits with the thoughts of people and he raw emotion on their faces and the time that's left on the characters spaces just slightly longer than is comfortable, so that the viewer really feels it with them, it creates an even bigger tension, in a way."
In a conversation with a small number of outlets, she added: "There's something about the way in which psychiatrists approached in this that feels very intense, I think more so than I was expecting.
"Yes, this, this has been a much more intense experience.'
Malpractice viewers all have the same complaint over ITV drama's first episode
"And it can be very difficult, some days the subject matter is very heavy.
"But I suppose, because Jordan and I had been there before we knew the setup."
However, she did gush about her new co-star Tom, 40, after he joined the series.
She told The Sun's TV Mag: "Tom did such a fantastic job of taking such a good, strong first brush with his character that I thought, 'OK, this is what this guy's about'. He was able to bring us all in straight away.
I hadn't anticipated how stressful I would find being on the set that was very similar to the hospitals that I've worked in, and patient scenarios.
Grace Ofori-Attah
"Tom was completely immersed in his character and that really helped me as Norma to have a standpoint from which to approach him. We had great fun off camera. He's a great guy."
Acclaimed writer Grace Ofori-Attah also returned to write the follow up, and she teased that the action was so lifelike, that she was left with ' PTSD ' from her own days as a medical professional.
'I hadn't anticipated how stressful I would find being on the set that was very similar to the hospitals that I've worked in, and patient scenarios.
"I think you can mentally detach yourself when you're just writing the script, but it's the curse and the benefit of having such a fantastic cast and crew that when they were filming certain scenes.
"You see in episode one in particular, they filmed them so well that I felt like I was having some kind of PTSD.
"It took me right back to being the equivalent of Dr Ford in those situations."
However, Grace admitted that she hadn't anticipated how she would feel being on set and around the cast, but she told us that she was well supported.
The acclaimed writer added: "I had a lot of support from our crew and making sure that I was okay, or did I want to be on set for certain scenes? Would I find it distressing?
"Honestly, I haven't even anticipated that, so I was, like, really grateful that the provision was there and had been already thought of."
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