Line of Duty producer World Productions has announced plans for a medical drama written for the screen by a former Oxford student. 

Malpractice on ITV will be directed by Boiling Point’s Philip Barantini, star Bafta-nominated actress Niamh Algar, and written by former doctor Grace Ofori-Attah.

The five-part series will follow Dr Lucinda Edwards on a nightmare shift that ends in the death of an opioid overdose victim, Edith Owusu.

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Despite the support of her medical supervisor, Dr Leo Harris, played by Sex Education and Pennyworthy star James Purefoy, Edith’s grieving father Sir Anthony Owusu, played by Brian Bovell, demands an enquiry into her actions.

Leading the medical investigation are Dr Norma Callahan, played by Helen Behan, and Lucinda’s former colleague, Dr George Adjei, played by Jordan Kouame.

Malpractice will be filmed in the Leeds area and is executive produced by Simon Heath, chief executive of World Productions, producers of hit drama series Line of Duty, Save Me and Vigil.

The cast also includes Hannah Walters, from Boiling Point and Time, in the role of Matron Beth Relph, Another Me actress Priyanka Patel as Dr Rayma Morgan, and Poldark’s Tristan Sturrock.

Ofori-Attah, whose credits include In The Long Run and Urban Myths, read medicine at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and worked as a consultant psychiatrist in Camden and Islington before switching to screenwriting full time.

She said: “I’d worked as an NHS doctor for over a decade when I first came to World with an idea that would become Malpractice.

“Malpractice explores the inevitable pressure-cooker created when doctors under investigation are forced to second-guess their clinical decisions, justify their every action but carry on with the day job as normal.

“It has been an absolute joy and privilege creating Malpractice with the team at World, who are well-versed in creating drama that’s endlessly entertaining and surprising, and I can’t wait to see it on screen.”

Algar added: “I’m thrilled to be a part of this project. I was blown away by Grace Ofori-Attah’s script and the team attached in creating Malpractice.

“I’m a huge fan of Phil Barantini’s work; his movie Boiling Point is an astonishing piece of work, and I’m so excited to see how he approaches Malpractice.

“I’m absolutely over the moon that we are working together on this special series.”

Boiling Point starred Stephen Graham as head chef Andy Jones, working the last Friday in December in a high-pressure restaurant kitchen, and was shot in one take, winning plaudits from critics.

Malpractice is produced in association with, and distributed by, ITV Studios.

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