| Native Name: | On Call 36小時 |
| Alt Name: | On Call 36 Hours |
| Genre: | Medical drama |
| Creator: | Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited |
| Starring: | Kenneth Ma Tavia Yeung Him Law Mandy Wong Benjamin Yuen Candy Chang Ben Wong Gigi Wong |
| Opentheme: | 連續劇 by Joey Yung |
| Theme Music Composer: | Tang Chi-wai |
| Country: | Hong Kong |
| Language: | Cantonese Mandarin English |
| Num Episodes: | 25 |
| Executive Producer: | Tommy Leung |
| Producer: | Poon Ka-tak |
| Location: | Hong Kong |
| Camera: | Multi camera |
| Runtime: | 45 minutes (each) |
| Company: | TVB |
| Network: | Jade HD Jade |
| C: | On Call 36小時 |
| L: | "on call 36 hours" |
| J: | On Call Saam1 Sap6 Luk6 Siu2 Si4 |
| P: | On Call Sānshíliù Xiǎoshí |
| Piccap: | intertitle |
The Hippocratic Crush, also known by its Chinese language title On Call 36 Hours (Chinese: On Call 36小時) is a 2012 Hong Kong television medical drama series produced by Poon Ka-tak and TVB. The drama follows the lives of young housemen, residents, and their mentors working in Mercy Hospital (慈愛醫院), a fictional hospital set in Hong Kong.
A sequel series with 30 episodes, The Hippocratic Crush II (a.k.a. On Call 36 Hours II), began filming in February 2013. The sequel premiered on 4 November 2013.
The drama revolves around a group of housemen joining in as doctors in training in Mercy Hospital and their trainers. Throughout the drama, many events unfurl challenging the housemen and their mentors: romance, tragedy, family events and memories and much more happen throughout the drama.
Cheung Yat Kin (Kenneth Ma) recently graduated and started his practice in neurosurgery at Mercy Hospital (慈愛醫院). Kin is a determined doctor who took his work seriously and strictly followed the rules. Although his medical interns were afraid of his strict rules and high expectations, they respected his exceptional skills and experiences. Kin initially studied medicine because he was grateful to the doctor Fan Chi Ngok (Yu's father) who saved his younger brother, Cheung Yat Hong (Nathan Ngai) after a horrible traffic accident. Kin took great care of his brother and worked hard to earn enough money to send his brother to study overseas. Worried that his brother will be unable to take care of himself as his legs were paralyzed, Kin decided that his mother shall accompany his brother overseas. Thus Kin had to work doubly hard to earn enough money to support both of them. Kin's incredible work ethic enabled him to work hard and save enough money to support his brother financially. For that reason, Kin did not consider being committed into a relationship until he met Fan Chi Yu (Tavia Yeung). Yu, a reputable doctor, worked on several projects with Kin and found herself falling in love with him. However, when she found out that her long lost sister, Hung Mei Suet (Mandy Wong), also liked Kin, she decided to give up on pursuing him. Subsequently, Kin realized that he also had feelings for Yu when she stopped talking to him and confessed his love to her. Shortly after Kin and Yu started their relationship, Hong got into an accident and tragically died. Kin's grief over his younger brother's tragic death greatly influenced his attitude towards his interns, especially Yeung Pui Chung (Him Law), whom Kin had always considered as a younger brother. To make matters worse, Kin suddenly finds out that Yu suffers from tumor in her spine which may become life-threatening. Yu actively searched for treatment and her persistent spirit motivated
Kin to get back on his feet to support her. Unfortunately, Yu's condition worsened, and she took the risk of undergoing a risky surgery. As a doctor and Yu's boyfriend, Kin and Yu's father took on the challenge to do the surgery on her. After enduring the hardships together, Kin and Yu's feelings grew deeper and toy married.
| Episode # | Original Air Date (Hong Kong) | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2012 | Dr. Fan (Yu) leaves home for her first day of the work year and is delayed by a pedestrian injury on the street. Dr. Y.K. Cheung helped the little boy, To Tze Lam. The boy is later admitted for observation and discharged, despite Dr. Y.K. Cheung being opposed to it after he learned the boy had left the hospital. The boy later returns to the hospital with bleeding in the brain needing surgery, something that Dr. Y.K. Cheung was concerned about in the first place. Pui Chung (Onion) and Mei Suet are interns on Dr. Y.K. Cheung's neurosurgery service. Onion is inept, unable to draw blood or place an IV, unlike Mei Suet, and drops/mis-files x-rays and x-ray reports. Dr. Fan (Yu) performs a test for Dr. Y.K. Cheung by fishing out a raisin from rice pudding but disrupts the pudding, which is considered a failure. |
| 2 | 2012 | Nurse Kei Kei is introduced when she gives Dr. Fan (Yu) some hand lotion. Male nurse Yik is scolded by Matron (head nurse) Wong Siu Lik. Onion continues poor performance by doing an incomplete history and physical on a patient. Male nurse Yik brings his son to the hospital because he doesn't have child care. He is the neighbor of Dr. Y.K. Cheung's family apartment. A big surgery for an AVM is assigned to Dr. Y.K. Cheung, instead of his higher trainee colleague, Philip. Other trainees and interns (housemen) find out that Dr. Fan (Yu) is the daughter of respected neurosurgeon and former hospital head of neurosurgery Dr. Fan. Some of them do not like it, thinking that it is nepotism or favoritism. Dr. Y.K. Cheung sublets a houseman apartment to Benjamin, who sublets it to housemen for HK$3000 per month. Dr. Y.K. Cheung is assigned another surgery so he has to forfeit the AVM operation to Philip, which is a disappointment to Dr. Cheung. School principal Chan touches intern (houseman) Ching Ching buttocks twice in a crowded elevator. |
| 3 | 2012 | Dr. Fan observes school principal Chan urinating in public at the hospital. Chan is found to have a frontal lobe brain tumor which can cause behavioral changes. Mei Suet continues to be aloof with Dr. Fan. Mei Suet then goes to her grandmother's 71st birthday dinner where the grandmother mentions Dr. Fan's father, who is the grandmother's ex-son-in-law. Dr. Fan's father had, 20 years ago, given her a jade bracelet costing $100,000 then, compared to a gold plated painting that Mei Suet's family is giving the grandmother. Pui Chung (Onion) practices fencing and meets Dr. Y.K. Cheung's brother, but does not know of the family relationship at the time. Dr. Y.K Cheung is demoted to being second assistant in a surgery on principal Chan, doing a task that interns (housemen) usually do. However, the AC (associate consultant) had to leave the operating theatre and Dr. Y.K. Cheung saved the life of the patient by clipping a bleeding aneurysm. This is done without the AC, which can result in disciplinary action. Pui Chung continues to f**k up, so Dr. Y.K Cheung gives him an ultimatum, to pass an oral and practical exam that will be given to him in 2 weeks. Nurse Kei Kei throws a surprise party in the ward lounge for Dr. Y.K Cheung operating success, but he becomes a hothead and angry at the ruse to get him to go to the ward lounge. |
| 4 | 2012 | Dr. Fan, incorrectly believing that Kei Kei is Dr. Y.K. Cheung's girlfriend, Dr. Fan verbally admonishes Dr. Y.K Cheung's inconsiderate behavior for becoming angry at the surprise loune party. Pui Chung (Onion) studies hard for the oral and practical exam to be given in 2 weeks with Dr. Fan helping him suture and examine patients, including a patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Dr. Fan's father (Dr. Fan Tzs-Ngok) gives a reception in his private clinie. One of the guest is a pharmacology firm's boss and his son. During the reception, Dr. Y.K. Cheung brown noses, making the AC (associate consultant, Man) dislike Dr. Y.K Cheung even more and Dr. Fan gets disgusted, too. Hong, Dr. Y.K. Cheung's handicapped brother wants to go kayaking, which their mother reluctantly agrees. Pui Chung recommends not kayaking but saves Hong from drowning. There is a mass casualty incident where a drunk driver, Kam Sai-Wing, son of a pharmaceutical company boss that went to the private clinic reception, hits several people with his vehicle. Kam Sai-Wing needs emergency brain surgery but so does his victim, who has a 50% chance of survival. That person has surgery first because Kam Sai-Wing's CT scan hasn't been done yet. Dr. Fan and Dr. Yu dispute who should be operated on first but the AC (associate consultant, Man) wants to take the victim first as his CT is done and can be used to guide surgery. Kam Sai-Wing dies after the first surgery is finished, despite Dr. Y. K. Cheungs valiant efforts to save him in the A&E department. |
| 11 | 2012 | Dr. Fan (Yu) rejects Onion but Y.K. leaves for a taxi before she can profess her love to him. The next day, Yu tries to say it in the cafe but Y.K. talks about something else and leaves. Y.K.'s surgical suspension is lifted so that he can do the deep brain stimulator placement in a Parkinson's Diease patient. Yu asks Y.K to dinner but, before dinner, sees him talking with a young woman, who she thinks is his girlfriend. That woman is actually Dr. John Chong's (Y.K.'s boss) wife, whom Y.K. used to date years ago. She is pregnant but has a congential septal heart defect that makes pregnancy dangerous. Onion sweet talks with Dr. Fan's father during a dinner with the two, Yu, and Y.K, making the father think that Onion may be the boyfriend. That is what Onion wants but Dr. Fan is not interested. Later Dr. John Chong sees Y.K. and his wife so he takes his wife's smartphone, which is the same design as his, feigning a mistake. He sees Y.K., calls him on his wife's phone, says nothing. Y.K. then calls back, hears nothing, then says he is coming to see her, which makes Dr. John Chong very angry. |
| 12 | 2012 | There is gossip in the hospital about Y.K. and Dr. Chong's wife. The wife leaves home and stays in a hotel. The gang of 3 (Y.K., nurse played by Derek Kok, and Benjamin) talk about it over dinner. There's a lunch with Dr. Fan (Yu), her father, Onion, and Y.K. Y.K. encourages Mei-Suet to have dinner with her real father (Dr. Fan's father) by bribing her with neurosurgery tutoring. Y.K. places the deep brain stimulator in the patient then Dr. Chong leaves the room. The patient bleeds but Y.K. calls for Dr. Chong instead of being a loose cannon, despite Dr. Chong being detained doing another surgery. Y.K. and Dr. Chong's wife meet for lunch but Y.K. texted Dr. Chong to join them (using his wife's phone). The wife finds out and leaves before her husband comes. Y.K. chases after her and she collapses in the street, presumably because of her heart defect. Mei Suet lives nearby and see them. All 3 go to the wife's hotel. Dr. Chong follows them then punches Y.K in the hotel as his wife collapses again. |
| 13 | 2012 | Dr. Chong's wife is hospitalized. He finds out that she is pregnant. She wants to keep the baby despite the risk to her life due to her congenital heart defect. Y.K.'s brother sees Ching Ching in the bookstore as she dumps her cheating boyfriend. Mei Suet, YK, Yu and her father have dinner at home. Yu buys a phone case to give to YK, her sister does the same. Y.K. and Yu have dinner. She professes her love for him after a "I love you" cake is mistakenly delivered by the waiter but is humiliated after the mistake is corrected. Mei Suet finds out that YK got the phone case that Yu bought. |
| 14 | 2012 | Mei Suet wants YK. Onion overhears YK tell Ben that he is too busy with work and studies for love but not to tell anyone. Onion tells Yu, who subtly confronts YK, making him think that Ben is the leaker. Yu think she still has a chance with YK because he doesn't hate her. Andy's grandmother visits the hospital. See Andy getting scolded by YK so she yells at YK. Andy forces her to go home. She confronts YK that night, where YK sees her intermittent ptosis. Yu tells YK that she'll give him a letter daily, like a chart, in an attempt to woo him. |
| 15 | 2012 | Grandma is sick in the hospital, making Andy almost break down. Ming Tai, one of the houseman, wants to operate a car repair shop after internship and gets a government loan. YK wants to stay at Mercy Hospital after he finishes his training. Lung, son of the male nurse played by Derek Kok, wants his father to play with him but his father is busy studying. The kid destroys the birthday cake, shaped like a car. Andy couldn't get himself to perform insert a needle in the patient's chest when the patient has an acute tension pneumothorax so he is chewed out by Yu, who knows that Andy has watched it before. |
| 16 | 2012 | Andy's grandmother has post-op pneumonia. Ming Tai does first aid at the car repair shop, prompting the owner to tell him to become a doctor instead of running a car repair shop, like Ming Tai was planning. Andy successfully treats an acute tension pneumothorax this time, having failed recently. His grandmother is able to watch him recite his doctor's oath before dying. |
| 17 | 2012 | YK decides to stay at Mercy Hospital after he finishes training and not go into private practice with Dr. Fan. Dr. Fan is mad. Yu talks to YK about it over basketball. YK's brother asks Ching Ching to a family dinner. At the dinner, he sees the photo of a TVB mascot on her phone so he secretly tries to obtain one, which is difficult. YK is concerned that he hasn't received any letters from Yu and asks Mei Suet, who stole 2 of them. Mei Suet tells Yu over dinner that she wants YK, shocking her and getting her to withdraw. |
| 18 | 2012 | Mei Suet says she wants YK. The head nurse visits Lung, son of the Derek Kok nurse character. Yu's maid realizes she is senile after getting lost. She tries to quit. The family won't let her so she runs away. She is rescued by Yu's mother, who was called by the maid. Yk's brother gives Ching Ching the TVB mascot. Yu learns of a standing wheelchair and gets one, traveling to the US for 4 days, unknown to anyone. |
| 19 | 2012 | Onion's brother in law has a herniated disc and needs surgery. Onion and friends help run the cafe in his absence. (incomplete synopsis) |
There were much fewer medical procedures in The Hippocratic Crush 2 (On Call 36 Hours II).
| H | Gigi Wong | Wong Siu Un 黃笑鶯 | the mother of Yat Kin and Yat Hong |
| Kenneth Ma | Cheung Yat Kin 張一健 | Neurosurgery specialist trainee, later specialist Wong Siu Un's elder son Older brother of Cheung Yat Hong. Love interest of Fan Chi Yu and Hung Mei Suet Husband of Fan Chi Yu | |
| Nathan Ngai | Cheung Yat Hong 張一康 | Wong Siu Un's younger son Younger brother of Cheung Yat Kin Boyfriend of Kan Ching Ching Killed by a glass bottle that fell from an overhead building in Episode 22 | |
| Cast | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Wilson Tsui | Fan Chi Ngok 范智岳 | Neurosurgery specialist Sze Yuk Lan's ex-husband Fan Tsz Yu and Hung Mei Suet's father Chong Pok Man and Cheung Yat Kin's mentor |
| Mary Hon | Sze Yuk Lan 施玉蘭 | Fan Chi Ngok's ex-wife Fan Tsz Yu and Hung Mei Suet's mother |
| Tavia Yeung | Fan Tsz Yu 范子妤 | Neurosurgery/Cardiothoracic surgery specialist trainee Fan Chi Ngok and Sze Yuk Lan's elder daughter Hung Mei Suet's elder sister Loved Cheung Yat Kin, later Cheung Yat Kin's wife Yeung Pui Chung's love interest. |
| Pat Yan | Ho Yiu 何么 | Fan Family's maid |
| Cast | Role | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hung Kwok Wai 洪國偉 | Dancing teacher Sze Yuk Lan's husband Hung Mei Suet's stepfather | ||
| Mary Hon | Sze Yuk Lan 施玉蘭 | Hung Kwok Wai's wife Fan Chi Ngok's ex-wife Fan Chi Yu and Hung Mei Suet's mother | |
| Mandy Wong | Hung Mei Suet 洪美雪 | Neurosurgery specialist trainee Fan Chi Ngok and Sze Yuk Lan's younger daughter Fan Chi Yu's younger sister Hung Kwok Wai's stepdaughter Had a crush on Cheung Yat Kin Benjamin's girlfriend at (last episode or before last episode) |
| Cast | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Lam Tai Kwong 林大光 | Director | |
| Manager | ||
| Cast | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Wilson Tsui | Fan Chi Ngok 范智岳 | Neurosurgery specialist, left Mercy Hospital Sze Yuk Lan's ex-husband Fan Tsz Yu and Hung Mei Suet's father Chong Pok Man and Cheung Yat Kin's mentor |
| Ben Wong | Chong Pok Man, John 莊博文 | Neurosurgery department head & specialist consultant Cheung Yat Kin's superior, points against Cheung Married to Yuen Ying |
| Kenneth Ma | Cheung Yat Kin 張一健 | Neurosurgery specialist trainee, later specialist Chong Pok Man's subordinate Fan Tsz Yu, Yeung Pui Chung, Hung Mei Suet, Tong Hon Pong's superior Fan Chi Ngok's apprentice Fan Chi Yu's later husband |
| Mandy Wong | Hung Mei Suet 洪美雪 | Neurosurgery specialist trainee Cheung Yat Kin's subordinate Benjamin's girlfriend |
| Him Law | Yeung Pui Chung 楊沛聰 | Neurosurgery specialist trainee Cheung Yat Kin's subordinate Liked Fan Chi Yu Loves Kan Ching Ching |
| Tong Hon Pong 湯漢邦 | Neurosurgery specialist trainee Cheung Yat Kin's subordinate | |
| Chiang Ying Wo 蔣應禾 | Neurosurgery specialist trainee Cheung Yat Kin's work rival | |
| Cast | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Raymond Cho | Chin Ho Tat 錢豪德 | Cardiothoracic surgery department head & specialist consultant Married to Phoebe |
| Fong Kit 方杰 | Cardiothoracic surgery specialist trainee Wong Hoi Kei's boyfriend | |
| Cast | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Yuen | Lau Ping Chan, Benjamin 劉炳燦 | Orthopaedics specialist trainee Hung Mei Suet's boyfriend |
| Law On Dik, Andy 羅安迪 | Orthopaedics specialist trainee | |
| Cast | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Paisley Wu | To Ka Man 屠家敏 | Matron Lui Siu Yat's superior, later girlfriend |
| Derek Kok | Lui Siu Yat 呂小益 | Nurse To Ka Man's subordinate, later boyfriend |
| Catherine Chau | Wong Hoi Kei 汪海淇 | Nurse Fong Kit's girlfriend Loved Cheung Yat Kin |
| Cast | Role | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gigi Wong | Wong Siu Un 黃笑鶯 | Cleaner Mother of Cheung Yat Kin and Cheung Yat Hong | |
| Li Fung | Sze To Shan 司徒珊 | Cleaner | |
| Pat Yan | Ho Yiu 何幺 | Fan Family's maid |
2012 TVB Anniversary Awards
2012 My AOD Favourite Awards
| Season 1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | Episodes | Average Points | Peaking Points | References | |
| 1 | February 13–17, 2012 | 1 — 5 | 29 | 31 | [1] |
| 2 | February 20–24, 2012 | 6 — 10 | 30 | 32 | [2] |
| 3 | February 27 - March 2, 2012 | 11 — 15 | 30 | 33 | [3] |
| 4 | March 5–9, 2012 | 16 — 20 | 31 | 34 | [4] |
| 5 | March 12–16, 2012 | 21 — 25 | 33 | 39 | [5] |
| Season 2 | |||||
| 1 | November 4–8, 2013 | 1 — 5 | 26 | 30 | [6] |
| 2 | November 11–15, 2013 | 6 — 10 | 26 | 27 | [7] |
| 3 | November 18, 20–21, 2013 | 11 — 13 | 26 | 27 | [8] |
| 4 | November 25–29, 2013 | 14 — 18 | 25 | 28 | [9] |
| 5 | December 2–6, 2013 | 19 — 23 | 26 | 28 | [10] |
| 6 | December 9–13, 2013 | 24 — 28 | 26 | 28 | [11] |
| December 15, 2013 | 29 — 30 | 30 | 31 | [12] | |
A sequel, The Hippocratic Crush II was released on 4 November 2013.