Jump to content

Doctor Stranger

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doctor Stranger
Promotional poster
GenreMedical
Romance
Written byPark Jin-woo
Kim Joo
Directed byJin Hyuk
Hong Jong-chan
StarringLee Jong-suk
Jin Se-yeon
Park Hae-jin
Kang So-ra
ComposerKim Jang-woo
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes20
Production
Executive producersHan Jung-hwan
Koh Dae-hwa
Lim Sung-gyun
ProducerPark Chang-yong
Production locationsSeoul, South Korea
Budapest, Hungary
Running timeMondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 (KST)
Production companyAura Media
Original release
NetworkSeoul Broadcasting System
ReleaseMay 5 (2014-05-05) –
July 8, 2014 (2014-07-08)

Doctor Stranger (Korean닥터 이방인; RRDakteo Yibangin) is a 2014 South Korean television series starring Lee Jong-suk, Jin Se-yeon, Park Hae-jin and Kang So-Ra.[1] It aired on SBS from May 5 to July 8, 2014 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 KST (UTC+9) for 20 episodes.

Synopsis

[edit]

As a child, Park Hoon (Lee Jong-suk) and his father Park Cheol, a well-known surgeon (Kim Sang-joong) were sent to North Korea to conduct an open-heart surgery on Kim Ill Sung to prevent the Second Korean War. After being sent to North Korea, Park Hoon and his father were denied access to go back to South Korea. It is revealed that Park Cheol is suing the Myungwoo University Hospital for a serious malpractice case and Park Cheol's friend, Dr Park Choi wanted to take responsibility. However, the director of the Hospital Oh did not want the malpractice case to become public which will ruin the hospital's reputation. As the result, he conspired with Jang Seok-joo, a national security official to make Park Cheol and his son trapped in North Korea. In North Korea, Park Hoon was trained to become a doctor by his father who was already a famous doctor. He became a genius cardiothoracic surgeon after attending medical school in North Korea while moonlighting as a smuggler, selling South Korea K-pop DVD. There, he fell deeply in love with Song Jae-hee (Jin Se-yeon). After Park Hoon's father died, he tried to flee to South Korea with Jae-hee, but lost contact with her in the end. Park Hoon was able to flee to South Korea alone.

In South Korea, Park Hoon begins to work as doctor in a top hospital Myungwoo University Hospital. Meanwhile, he found a girl that looks exactly like Jae-hee, Doctor Han Seung-hee, who claims not to know Park Hoon. At the same time, Lee Sung-hoon, a leading doctor in the hospital plans his revenge against the institution for the death of his father in the malpractice case 10 years ago.

Cast

[edit]

Main

[edit]
A South Korean who was raised in North Korea after his father was conned into going over to North. He trained to be a genius doctor in North Korea and later defects to South Korea in a bid to live a better life with his lover.
  • Jin Se-yeon as Song Jae-hee 송재희/Han Seung-hee한승희[2]
    • Seo Ji-hee as young Song Jae-hee
Jae-hee is Park Hoon's soul mate who was separated from him while they were escaping from North Korea; Seung-hee is a North Korean woman and is a specialist in oriental medicine anesthesia.
A genius who graduated from Harvard and became a doctor to take revenge on Myungwoo Hospital for the death of his father in a malpractice case, as Park Hoon's rival.
Daughter of the chairman of Myungwoo Hospital, a cardiothoracic surgeon

Supporting

[edit]
  • Park Hae-joon as Cha Jin-soo (North Korean agent)
  • Chun Ho-jin as Prime Minister Jang Seok-joo, the primary antagonist of the series.
  • Jeon Gook-hwan as Oh Joon-gyu (Soo-hyun's father and chairman of the Myungwoo Hospital), he is the major antagonist of the series as he responsible for deporting Dr Cheol and his son to North Korea in the first place.
  • Choi Jung-woo as Moon Hyung-wook
  • Nam Myung-ryul as Choi Byeong-cheol
  • Yoon Bo-ra as Lee Chang-yi
  • Kim Sang-ho as Yang Jeong-han
  • Hwang Dong-joo as Geum Bong-hyun
  • Kang Tae-hwan as Oh Sang-jin
  • Lee Jae Won as Kim Chi-gyu
  • Kim Bo-mi as Kim Ah-young (Chi-gyu's younger sister)
  • Uhm Soo-jung as Min Soo-ji
  • Han Eun-sun as Eun Min-se
  • Jung In-gi as Kim Tae-sool
  • Kim Ji-eun as Joon-gyu's secretary
  • Kim Yong-gun as President Hong Chan-sang
  • Kim Ji-young as Jeong-min
  • Kim Sang-joong as Park Cheol (Park Hoon's father)
  • Zhang Liang as Sean Zhang (Jae-joon's friend)
  • Jung Hye-in as Nurse

Original soundtrack

[edit]
Doctor Stranger OST
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
Recorded2014
GenreSoundtrack
Language
LabelYedang C&S
Well-Made Yedang

Part 1

[edit]
Released on May 7, 2014 (2014-05-07)
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Stranger" (이방인)Bobby Kim3:42

Part 2

[edit]
Released on May 19, 2014 (2014-05-19)
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Meet You Know" (지금만나러가요)Lee Ki-chan4:05
2."Meet You Know" (Inst.) 4:05
Total length:8:01

Part 3

[edit]
Released on May 20, 2014 (2014-05-20)
No.TitleArtistLength
1."A Good Day Like This" (이렇게좋은날)Jeon Hye-won3:36
2."A Good Day Like This" (Inst.) 3:36
Total length:7:32

Part 4

[edit]
Released on June 3, 2014 (2014-06-03)
No.TitleArtistLength
1."As If Tomorrow Won't Come" (내일이안오것처럼)G.O (MBLAQ)3:50
2."As If Tomorrow Won't Come" (Inst.) 3:50
Total length:7:00

Part 5

[edit]
Released on June 9, 2014 (2014-06-09)
No.TitleArtistLength
1."You and I" (니가내가)Bang Min-ah (Girl's Day)2:50
2."You and I" (Inst.) 2:50
Total length:5:10

Part 6

[edit]
Released on June 16, 2014 (2014-06-16)
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Because of You" (당신때문에)Park Jung-ah3:28
2."Because of You" (Inst.) 3:28
Total length:7:56
Disc 2:
No.TitleArtistLength
1."I Am a Stranger" (Opening Title)Kim Jang Woo3:20
2."Dangerous Guys"Kim Jang Woo3:00
3."Escape"Kim Jang Woo3:35
4."G.R.B"Kim Jang Woo3:30
5."Memory"Kim Jang Woo4:45
6."New Life"Kim Jang Woo2:40
7."Promise"Kim Jang Woo3:10
8."Team Strangers"Kim Jang Woo3:40
9."The Meaning of Tears"Kim Jang Woo3:50
10."Right Way"Kim Jang Woo4:59

Production and broadcast

[edit]

Director Jin Hyuk previously directed Brilliant Legacy (2009), City Hunter (2011), Master's Sun (2013). Co-screenwriter Park Jin-woo previously wrote Conspiracy in the Court (2007) and The Kingdom of the Winds (2008).

In China, the online streaming rights for drama were sold for $80,000 per episode and the drama was made available for online streaming on both Youku and Tudou where it received 330 million and 50 million views, respectively. As of July 7, 2014 it has been streamed close to 400 million times.[3] Due to the drama's success in China there are currently plans to edit the drama into a film and release it theatrically exclusively in China with an alternate ending.[4][5][6] According to the website DailyNK, which reports on North Korea-related issues, the drama was highly popular among North Korean youth who would obtain it illegally at the jangmadang (markets).[7]

Ratings

[edit]
Ep. Original broadcast date Average audience share
Nielsen Korea[8] TNmS[9]
Nationwide Seoul Nationwide Seoul
1 May 5, 2014 8.6% 9.5% 9.4% 11.6%
2 May 6, 2014 9.4% 9.9% 11.3% 13.7%
3 May 12, 2014 12.1% 13.3% 11.6% 13.6%
4 May 13, 2014 12.7% 13.3% 13.1% 16.2%
5 May 19, 2014 14.0% 15.6% 14.2% 18.1%
6 May 20, 2014 12.7% 14.3% 12.1% 15.9%
7 May 26, 2014 13.1% 14.8% 12.8% 15.8%
8 May 27, 2014 12.5% 14.1% 12.3% 15.1%
9 June 2, 2014 13.2% 14.7% 13.0% 16.1%
10 June 3, 2014 11.7% 12.9% 12.0% 14.8%
11 June 9, 2014 11.0% 12.4% 10.7% 13.5%
12 June 10, 2014 11.5% 12.7% 11.1% 14.1%
13 June 16, 2014 11.6% 13.1% 11.4% 13.6%
14 June 17, 2014 10.8% 12.3% 11.5% 13.6%
15 June 23, 2014 11.9% 13.6% 12.4% 15.2%
16 June 24, 2014 11.8% 13.4% 10.8% 12.4%
17 June 30, 2014 11.6% 13.3% 10.9% 12.7%
18 July 1, 2014 10.1% 11.2% 11.5% 12.8%
19 July 7, 2014 10.9% 12.3% 11.2% 13.7%
20 July 8, 2014 12.7% 14.6% 12.2% 14.2%
Average 11.7% 13.1% 11.8% 14.3%

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Award Category Recipient Result
2014 7th Korea Drama Awards Top Excellence Award, Actor Lee Jong-suk Nominated
Excellence Award, Actress Kang So-ra Won
3rd APAN Star Awards Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Jin Se-yeon Nominated
Kang So-ra Nominated
Popular Star Award, Actress Jin Se-yeon Won
SBS Drama Awards SBS Special Award Lee Jong-suk Won
Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special Jin Se-yeon Nominated
Kang So-ra Nominated

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Joo-won, Chung (June 11, 2014). "Love triangle kicks off in 'Doctor Stranger'". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Jin Se Yeon to Play Two Characters in "Doctor Stranger"". Soompi. April 26, 2014. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  3. ^ "Yonhap News Agency".
  4. ^ ""Doctor Stranger" Goes from a Drama to a Film with Political Implications". 2014-06-27.
  5. ^ "New Korean drama series sells for $120,000 per episode in China". 2014-07-04.
  6. ^ "Chinese Film Version of "Doctor Stranger" to Have a Different Ending". 17 July 2014.
  7. ^ "SBS Drama 'Dr. Stranger' Getting Northern Viewers". 2014-06-17.
  8. ^ "AGB Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2013-12-26. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  9. ^ "TNmS Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". TNmS Ratings (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2013-11-28. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
[edit]