Who can forget George Clooney in E.R.; Patrick Dempsey in Grey's Anatomy; our own Andrew McFarlane in The Flying Doctors; the original doctor dreamy Richard Chamberlain as Dr Kildare in the swinging '60s; Chad Everett in Medical Center in the '70s, and the quirky Nip/Tuck with Julian McMahon (2003-2010)?
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There are those tv doctors whose bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired. Vince Edwards as Ben Casey was an early example; Ted Danson's Becker (1998-2004) kept us guessing which way his mood would swing; Hugh Laurie's Dr House (2004-2012) took it up a notch and Martin Clunes is barely civil in Doc Martin, yet has endeared himself to viewers since 2004.
Father figure doctors have included Dick van Dyke in Diagnosis Murder, Jack Klugman in Quincy MD; Hector Elizondo in Chicago Hope (1994-2004); Marcus Welby MD (1969-1976) with Robert Young; and most recently Richard Schiff as Dr Aaron Glassman in the very popular The Good Doctor.
Now in its third season, it stars Freddie Highmore (pictured) as Dr Shaun Murphy, who wants desperately to be a surgeon but is autistic and has Savant syndrome which enables his genius diagnostic skills.
His peers were at first resentful of his presence, believing he had preferential treatment because of his mentor Glassman.
His supervising doctors bounce between admiring his brilliance and being wary of him having a meltdown during surgery. Meanwhile fans are torn between Murphy being sweet on his room mate Lea (Paige Spara) and the new object of his affection and pathologist Dr Carly Lever (Jasika Nicole). We'll have to wait until the Seven Network schedules the new season to see if he can take the next step.