Berlin ER creator on the stress of being an emergency room physician (Exclusive)
Berlin ER is not for the faint of heart. This Apple TV+ German-language original is a first-hand look at the harrowing lives of emergency room medical professionals, and the stress they undergo under the crushing pressure of their daily work.
The medical drama pulls no punches, and much of what makes it special comes from the real-life experience of Samuel Jefferson, the show's creator. Jefferson was an Emergency Room physician in his home country of England. He talks about how his experience in the UK translated to the Berlin ER, noting more similarities than differences in the medical realm.
Talking about the experience filming Berlin ER, Jefferson said:
"Actually, very quickly we realized that a lot of the experiences were very similar. The doctors and the patients. The world. The stress— was very very similar. And even weirdly I’d meet people that we would interview and they would feel like people I’d known from previous worlds."
Berlin ER is based on Samuel Jefferson's experience (and it isn't)
Sportskeeda was invited to be a part of the Berlin ER press junket featuring Jefferson. We asked him how much of his real-life emergency room experiences made their way onto the show.
"The honest answer is everything and nothing. If that makes sense. The best way of thinking about it is taking all of my experiences, blending it, and then dishing out the blended thing. So everything in it comes from some place of authenticity. Either from me or the other German doctors that we spoke to, or even the cast and crew. But nothing is exactly one to one," Jefferson replied.
Much of the show is visceral and, in some cases, overwhelming. Jefferson stressed how much authenticity mattered in Berlin ER. Despite the fact that the Apple TV+ original is fictional, much of it is based on reality:
"It was important for us to get the feel of the show and what it feels like to work in that environment, rather than tell exactly one story that we’d experience. But I hope that that lends itself to some authenticity in the show. That everything comes from somewhere. Even though we’ve fictionalised stuff to tell a story, everything is built with authentic parts," he noted.
The German-language original found its roots in the United Kingdom, where Jefferson cut his teeth in the ER for nearly a decade. We asked him if he knew someone like a Dr. Parker or a Dr. Weber.
"Again yes and no, cuz I worked as a doctor for about eight or nine years in the emergency room. So a lot of it is me and the people I met, and the people I worked with. When we first started designing the show in Germany, I was doubtful whether my experience in London could transfer to Berlin. It’s a different country," he replied.
So, how do doctors in such difficult positions cope? Jefferson alluded to a kind of dark humor.
"I think that the way that the job is stressful turns people into a type of person, and a type of doctor. And it’s something about the defence mechanisms that you need and the coping strategies. And often there’s gallows humor. This kinda dark sense of humor. So, I think that easily translates all across the world, I think, to doctors," he remarked.
Catch a new Berlin ER episode every Wednesday on Apple TV+. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for extensive coverage of the show.
