| Genre: | Medical drama |
| Creator: | Paula Milne |
| Director: | Patrick Lau |
| Starring: | Nigel Hawthorne Dearbhla Molloy Helen McCrory Dominic Mafham Robert Langdon Lloyd Sylvia Chang |
| Composer: | Gavin Greenaway |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 3 |
| Producer: | Brian Eastman |
| Editor: | Neil Thomson |
| Cinematography: | Nicholas D. Knowland |
| Runtime: | 55 minutes (including adverts) |
| Company: | Carnival Film and Television |
| Network: | Channel 4 |
The Fragile Heart is a BAFTA award-winning British medical drama television series created by Paula Milne and first aired on Channel 4 from 6 to 20 November 1996. The series was nominated for the Royal Television Society award for Best Drama Serial.[1]
Edgar Pascoe (Nigel Hawthorne) is a highly successful and charismatic cardiac surgeon. Pre-eminent in his field, he is the embodiment of the upper echelons of medicine: urbane, assured, supremely confident in his own abilities. But he is not infallible - either in the operating theatre or in his private life with his divided family.
Edgar's wife Lileth (Dearbhla Molloy), a dedicated and compassionate country GP, is increasingly drawn to the holistic arts of healing still practiced in the East, but scorned by purveyors of Western technology. As their professional ideals and methods clash, so inevitably does their relationship. Nicola (Helen McCrory) is Edgar's favoured child, ruthless and unscrupulous in her ambition to emulate her illustrious father.
But it is in China, heading a medical delegation, that Edgar is confronted by an ethical dilemma over the abuse of human rights and is forced into a painful moral awakening which will prove to affect every area of his life.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Nigel Hawthorne | Dr. Edgar Pascoe |
| Dearbhla Molloy | Dr. Lileth Pascoe |
| Helen McCrory | Nicola Pascoe |
| Dominic Mafham | Daniel Pascoe |
| Robert Langford Lloyd | Dr. Maurice Denton |
| Sylvia Chang | Dr. Zhao Quing |
| Stewart Ong | Dr. Chen |
| Pao Han Lin | Wan Pu |
| John Hartley | Mrs. Youngman |
| Brenda Cavendish | Mrs. Youngman |
| Gareth Armstrong | Profusionist |
| Marian McLoughlin | Margaret Sedgely |
| Sebastian Abineri | Peter Sedgley |
| Ian Aspinall | Dilip |
| Adrian Pang | Lin Ling Tian |
| Simon Slater | Calder |
| Eamon Boland | Deviln |
| Terence Kemp | Mr. Bower-Kemp |
| Gordon Griffin | Flanders |
| Hi Ching | Hang |
| Leader Hawkins | Dr. Manville |
| Gabrielle Lloyd | Nancy Manville |
| Diana Payan | Mrs. Lawson |
| Vincent Marzello | Hugh Lyle |
The Fragile Heart was released on DVD on 8 October 2018.