The Hot Zone (previously known as Combat Hospital) begins production

From a media release:

GLOBAL’S ORIGINAL DRAMA SERIES THE HOT ZONE BEGINS PRODUCTION

  • International Ensemble Cast Includes Elias Koteas (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Michelle Borth (Hawaii Five-0), Luke Mably (The Gates), Deborah Kara Unger (The Hurricane), Terry Chen (Sanctuary) and Arnold Pinnock (The Listener)
  • New Medical Drama to Premiere on Global and ABC this Summer

Shaw Media announced that production on Global Television’s gritty, new, medical drama The Hot Zone (working title, formerly known as Combat Hospital) has begun. Commissioned by Global’s original content team and recently picked up by ABC, the 13 x 1 hour-episode series will be shot in Toronto until July 2011. Broadcast details will be revealed at a later date.

The Hot Zone is a fictional medical procedural set in 2006 at the only military hospital providing advanced surgical care in all of Southern Afghanistan. The series charts the frantic lives of the hospital’s resident doctors and nurses from Canada, America, the U.K. and other allied countries. This highly-charged series follows the characters as they navigate their way through the relentless life-and-death battles on the operating table, and the never-ending conflicts that arise from working in a war zone military hospital.

The Hot Zone features a diverse ensemble cast including: Elias Koteas (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as Colonel Marks; Michelle Borth (Hawaii Five-0) as Canadian surgeon Dr. Rebecca Gordon; Luke Mably (The Gates) as neurosurgeon Dr. Simon Hill; Deborah Kara Unger (The Hurricane) as Australian army psychiatrist Major Ada Pedersen; Terry Chen (Sanctuary) as trauma team leader Captain Bobby Trang; and Arnold Pinnock (The Listener) as Commander Will Royal, Chief of Nursing.

The series is being shot on an expansive 17,187-square metre (185,000 sq. ft) indoor and outdoor set recently constructed in Toronto. It is one of the largest standing sets ever built for a Canadian original production and is modelled after the real Canadian-lead NATO Role 3 Hospital at Kandahar Airfield. The set is a meticulous re-creation of a portion of the hospital compound and the vast Kandahar Airfield, including the helicopter landing zone, boardwalk area and barracks, which housed over 15,000 military and civilian personnel.

The Hot Zone is a production from Canada’s Sienna Films and the U.K.’s Artists Studio. Academy Award®-nominated Daniel Petrie Jr. (Beverly Hills Cop) is the executive producer and showrunner. Executive producers are Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny for Sienna Films (The Cry of the Owl, Diamonds, How She Move); Gub Neal, Justin Thomson-Glover and Patrick Irwin for U.K.-based Artists Studio (The Last Enemy); as well as Simon Vaughan of Lookout Point. The Hot Zone was created by Jinder Oujla-Chalmers (Ralph Klein – No Ordinary Man) and Douglas Steinberg (Boston Public).

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5 thoughts on “The Hot Zone (previously known as Combat Hospital) begins production”

  1. Jinder Oujla-Chalmers is also one of the executive producers. It is also important to note she alone risked her life going to Afghanastan to get the stories for creating this series.

    1. There’s no need to be dramatic about it. It’s not exactly a risk of one’s life to hang out in Kandahar and talk to people at the Role-3. Give credit where credit is due…to the medical professionals that gave her the stories.

      Let’s hope they don’t screw this series up with a bunch of fake drama.

  2. So glad to see that this show has gone back to being called Combat Hospital, its a way better name than The Hot Zone. What a fantastic idea for a show, can’t wait to see how it shapes up.

  3. I hate to say this but this show will end up going the way of “Hawthorne” last season. The trailer with a strong female lead pulling rank etc. on others. Just seems to hokey. Mark my words.

  4. I watched part of some episodes and as realistic as they try to portray it, there are many omissions and short comings, apparent to anyone who has served in the CF. Too many to list but the no-hook Private Med Tech talking to Senior officers’ tone wouldn’t last too long before he got a talking to, make him a Master Corporal or a really crusty 20+ year Sgt ready to retire would be more like it. Elias Koteas is no where near condescending enough to be a Major, much less a Combat Surgeon. Michelle Borth’s character has to lose the circa 1980’s web belt for her side arm, seriously they gave her a Bianchi holster? Have them drink coffee from a Tim Hortons cup for crying out loud. CF members live off it and can never get enough of it, some shameless advertising for Timmies might go a long way, and the waking up in bed with the Brit doctor, the sleeves rolled down half way below the elbow, I pray none of them attempt to wear a beret. Just my two cents and beats most of the reality TV on these days. I give them a B for effort.

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