The General (TV series)

1998 British TV series or programme

The General

Genre| Reality television
Directed by| Dave Heather
Presented by| Yvette Fielding
Chris Serle
Heather Mills
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
No. of series| 1
No. of episodes| 58
Production
Production location| Southampton General Hospital
Running time| 30 minutes
Original release
Network| BBC One
Release| 6 April (1998-04-06) –
26 June 1998 (1998-06-26)
Related
City Hospital

The General was a BBC fly-on-the-wall television series hosted by Yvette Fielding, Chris Serle and Heather Mills.[1] Based at Southampton General Hospital, the programme tracked the progress of selected patients, including outpatients, at the hospital. The series was broadcast live[2] every weekday on BBC One, in a daytime slot. 58 episodes of the programme aired in total.[3] The original director of the series was Dave Heather.[4]

As well as the presenting team tracking patients and staff in the hospital, the programme also featured Heather Mills abseiling down the side of the hospital and demonstrating various uses for her prosthesis.[5]

The show also featured occasional celebrity guest appearances, including a visit from endurance expert Mike Stroud.[6]

The programme was subsequently renamed City Hospital, continuing with exactly the same format, initially with the same presenters but subsequently presented by Nick Knowles and Gaby Roslin.[7] City Hospital later moved from Southampton General Hospital to Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals in London,[3] with the presentation team changing; subsequent presenters included Jeremy Milnes[8] and Nadia Sawalha.[9]

Both The General and City Hospital were produced by Topical Television.[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "BBC Programme Index - The General". 6 April 1998. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
2. ^ "Text of full judgment: Heather Mills v Sir Paul McCartney". The Times. 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
3. ^ a b "City Hospital: History of the programme". Guys and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. Archived from the original on 25 September 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
4. ^ Burton, Humphrey (21 April 2005). "Obituary: Dave Heather, Director of Glyndebourne telecasts". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 26 November 2014.
5. ^ "Heather Mills:TV Appearances and Presenting". Retrieved 15 February 2025.
6. ^ "Dr Mike Stroud". Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
7. ^ Woodward, Ian (28 April 2001). "The accident prone Mr Fix-it; On TV he's calm and collected, but Nick Knowles is still in inner turmoil over the loss of his father". The Mirror. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
8. ^ "BBC City Hospital presenter opens Guy's cancer facility". London SE1. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016.
9. ^ "City Hospital". BBC. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014.
10. ^ "Topical Television:Our shows". Topical Television. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012.

*[No.]: Number