Doctors series 7

The seventh series of the British medical soap opera Doctors originally aired between 18 April 2005 and 13 April 2006. It consisted of 185 episodes. Set in the fictional West Midlands town of Letherbridge, the soap follows the lives of the staff and patients of the Mill Health Centre, a fictional NHS doctor's surgery. This was the first series of Doctors to have Will Trotter as executive producer, following the resignation of original executive producer Mal Young at the end of the previous series.

The series saw a fluctuation in cast, with exits including Ariyon Bakare, Akemnji Ndifornyen, Andrea Green, Tom Butcher and original cast member Corrinne Wicks. Adrian Lewis Morgan was cast as doctor Jimmi Clay, and having appeared continuously since his first episode in September 2005, he has become Doctors' longest-serving cast member. Jaye Griffiths and Michael McKell also debuted in the series. The series finale featured the first same-sex wedding on British television when characters Greg Robinson (Ben Jones) and Rico Da Silva (Felix D'Alviella) get married.

Cast
The seventh series saw numerous regular cast members depart from their roles. The first two were Ariyon Bakare and Akemnji Ndifornyen, with respective father and son Ben Kwarme and Nathan Bailey leaving together in the June 2005 episode "Iron Man". Tara Coleman-Starr made her final appearance as Claire Thompson, which was followed by the departure of Claire's mother, Helen (Corrinne Wicks). Wicks', who was an original cast member on Doctors, had decided to depart the series after five years. Wicks' husband, Tom Butcher, who portrayed Marc Eliot, also decided to depart. The pair's final episode was an hour-long special and sees the characters leave together. Andrea Green left her role as Sarah Finch in the final episode of the series. Her departure sees Sarah leave to work in Brazil.

The seventh series was the debut of doctor Jimmi Clay (Adrian Lewis Morgan), who made his first appearance on 5 September 2005 and has appeared continuously since. Producers introduced the character's wife, Amanda (Emma Samms), shortly after his arrival. Jaye Griffiths was then cast as doctor Elizabeth Croft. She began appearing in January 2006 and left at the conclusion of the series. Michael McKell then joined as a love interest of Elizabeth. He was introduced as a doctor with an emotionally troubled backstory: this included misdiagnosing a patient who then died and being suspended by the General Medical Council and forced to retrain as a doctor, as well as his ex-wife having miscarried their baby. Felix D'Alviella debuted as recurring character Rico Da Silva; he is involved in the first same-sex wedding on British television when Rico marries established character Greg Robinson (Ben Jones). Bracken Woodson (Jessica Gallagher) is then born to parents George (Stirling Gallacher) and Ronnie (Seán Gleeson). Robert Cavanah also recurred as doctor Peter Kendrick, a depressed doctor who commits suicide.

Main characters

 * Ariyon Bakare as Ben Kwarme
 * Tom Butcher as Marc Eliot
 * Eva Fontaine as Faith Walker
 * Stirling Gallacher as George Woodson
 * Seán Gleeson as Ronnie Woodson
 * Andrea Green as Sarah Finch
 * Jaye Griffiths as Elizabeth Croft
 * Ben Jones as Greg Robinson
 * Diane Keen as Julia Parsons
 * Michael McKell as Nick West
 * Adrian Lewis Morgan as Jimmi Clay
 * Akemnji Ndifornyen as Nathan Bailey
 * Christopher Timothy as Mac McGuire
 * Corrinne Wicks as Helen Thompson

Recurring characters

 * Robert Cavanah as Peter Kendrick
 * Tara Coleman-Starr as Claire Thompson
 * Felix D'Alviella as Rico Da Silva
 * Jessica Gallagher as Bracken Woodson
 * Joshua Prime as Dan Thompson
 * Emma Samms as Amanda Clay

Reception
Doctors were recognised for their representation of mental health issues in 2005, when they were nominated within the Soaps and Series category at the Mind Mental Health Media Awards. They also won the Diversity in Drama Production award at the 2006 Screen Nation Film and Television Awards for their representation of Black British actors.