RFDS - Royal Flying Doctor Service

In New Zealand it will screen on TVNZ 1 very soon

I have enjoyed RDFS, I do agree though that they have gone a bit hard on the sad storylines and possibly could add some lighter touches next season if it gets renewed by Ch7

Thoughts on renewal?

I suspect if it has decent overseas sales it might get a second outing

This week in the first episode, they started with some good light-hearted stuff and I thought for a while, hey, maybe we’ve turned a corner. Maybe the show can have a good balance of light and shade.

There was also some hope with a rescue that was tinged with tragedy but then they completely ruined it by creating more tragedy, suffering and death. How much depressing stuff can these characters be subjected to?

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I’d argue that depressing stuff is what keeps viewers hooked in. I don’t think many people have the patience for slow dramas these days where nothing of substance happens.

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ReallY? Depressing stuff hooks viewers in? How do you explain the ratings dropping further for every episode screened?

Killing off so many of their patients doesn’t make them a very good rescue team or an inspirational show.

Except you need to balance everything out. It can’t just be jolly happy all the way or tragic and sad all the way. It needs to be a mix.

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Exactly. Just like real life.

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Final episode tonight was good.
Really hope 7 renew this for a second season and that the writers take on some of the feedback from the viewers and lighten up the storyline’s a little bit or at least balance them a bit more.

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I hope 7 gives it another run - the ratings (especially after a week on catchup) are decent.

Its good to see some decent Australian drama, while there was a bit of a mid-season dip in the quality, it ended well

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My god this was a struggle to get through. No need to take an Ambien or a Xanax when this show was on.

Way too many romance plots. Three long running major romance plots is way too many this early out of the gate. Home & Away does the outback.

Not enough time spent on the patients. How are the viewers supposed to get sucked in if the patient barely gets any significant back story or build up. Who cares if the patient lives or dies if viewers aren’t invested.

Rob Collins and Emma Hamilton were massive disappointments. For leading characters they were incredibly flat and not very charismatic. Stephen Peacocke wasn’t much better, it’s starting to feel like he plays the same character in everything.

The disaster stories were terrible. Take the mine explosion. Hardly any time spent at the crash site, no high stakes on the scene, then we get riveting life or death moments in a cramped cabin like all the rest of the medical stories told with the same lethargic pace.

Really hated watching Eliza watch the domestic abuse happening over the webcam. Seeing her reaction and taking away from the main action was such a poor narrative choice. It would have had much more impact if Eliza was totally in the dark and fretting away somewhere so the reunion with Pete had more impact. Not into Eliza does Goggle Box.

The fundraising gala was another damp squib moment. I get drag queens are flavour of the month, this one wasn’t funny, neither was Matty dressed up. The whole event felt underdone.

This was the one Australian drama I was really looking forward to this year and it was a disappointment. I wanted action and adventure with interesting characters, instead I got stilted stories, poor pacing and bland characters.

Hopefully 7 renews this, if only to bolster their abysmal Australian drama output, and maybe the problems in season 1 were only growing pains. It does have potential.

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Just leave it in the pile of shows that shouldn’t have been rebooted or had a remake.

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I caught up with the final four episodes on the weekend. The finale tied up a few plots in case the show isn’t renewed.

I quite enjoyed the series overall. I reckon the depressing stuff reflects the harsh reality of living in the outback and the difficult situations the real RFDS medics face every day, but agree that it can be more balanced with lighter stories if there is a second season.

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No mention of RFDS at today’s Seven 2022 upfronts. Hopefully the overseas broadcasts (which are yet to begin) and further sales deals from MIPCOM at Cannes this week will determine whether the drama will be back for a second season.

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I can’t imagine there’s any rush to do a second season. I’ll be surprised if it goes ahead.

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Speaking to David Knox from TV Tonight, Angus Ross (Seven’s Head of Programming), said this about a second season of RFDS:

ā€œThat is in the To Be Decided basket. There’s a number of number of shows which we’ll decide probably closer… decisions haven’t been made by Upfronts on a number of these.ā€

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Better then a flat out no

Season 1 premieres on TVNZ1 in New Zealand next Monday (October 25) at 8.30pm.

Another decent Australian drama production selling around the world that Seven doesn’t know what to do with. Perhaps Foxtel should pick it up in a similar deal to how they acquired A Place To Call Home several years ago.