A FORMER tax office building in the Bradford district will take centre stage in a major new TV drama series set to hit screens next week.

The first episode of Malpractice, a new five-part thriller, will be broadcast on ITV1 on Sunday, April 23 at 9pm.

The following four episodes will then be shown at the same time each Sunday.

The whole series will be available for streaming on ITVX from 10pm on April 23 once the first episode is screened.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: From left, Malpractice cast members Helen Behan, who plays Dr Callahan, Niamh Algar as Dr Lucinda Edwards and Jordan Kouamé as Dr George AdjeiFrom left, Malpractice cast members Helen Behan, who plays Dr Callahan, Niamh Algar as Dr Lucinda Edwards and Jordan Kouamé as Dr George Adjei (Image: ITV)

The story sees Niamh Algar play Dr Lucinda Edwards, a doctor working on a shift that ends in the death of opioid overdose victim Edith Owusu.

Dr Edwards is a registrar at the West Yorkshire Royal Hospital working in the A&E department. She has also worked on the frontline during the pandemic.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Dr Lucinda Edwards during episode one of the new drama Dr Lucinda Edwards during episode one of the new drama (Image: ITV)

The plot sees Edith’s grieving father Sir Anthony Owusu demand an inquiry into Lucinda’s actions on the night of her death.

ITV has released teaser photographs from the opening episode of the new five-part drama series, featuring scenes from the programme.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Filming in August 2022 as the former tax office in Shipley was converted into a hospital for ITV drama Malpractice Filming in August 2022 as the former tax office in Shipley was converted into a hospital for ITV drama Malpractice (Image: Newsquest)

Scenes from the series were filmed throughout the Bradford district in summer 2022 including at City Hall and Shipley Town Hall, but it is the former tax office in Shipley that plays a key role.

The building was converted into an accident and emergency department where Dr Edwards works and also has a crucial part to play in the opening episode.

 

Cast and crew from Malpractice have spoken of the key role it played in the series.

Niamh said: “The hospital set was very authentic and realistic. It felt very real. It was like the most immersive theatre.

“We had so much space on the hospital set because we built everything from the ground up at the old Shipley Tax Office. We had these large, long corridors.”

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: James Purefoy plays Dr Leo Harris in ITV's Malpractice James Purefoy plays Dr Leo Harris in ITV's Malpractice (Image: ITV)

James Purefoy, who plays Dr Leo Harris in the series, said: “You go into a building that looks like a tax office but then go through a set of double doors and you are in an A&E department with everything that you could possibly need, all the props, all the medical equipment, everything was right there.

 

“So, it was a little bit like Alice in Wonderland. You walk in from the street expecting to see one thing and you come through a door and it's a whole new world.”

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Niamh Algar, as Dr Lucinda Edwards, and Simon Naylor, who plays a security guard, during the opening episode Niamh Algar, as Dr Lucinda Edwards, and Simon Naylor, who plays a security guard, during the opening episode (Image: ITV)

Philip Barantini, series director and executive producer, said: “We found the building online and the exterior looks like a hospital."

He said it had "massive rooms". 

  • Watch Malpractice on ITV on April 23 at 9pm.