Satellite: Pick of the Day

THE AMERICAN medical series ER (9.30pm Sky 1), may be over-hyped and over here, but it is one of the few television dramas that makes for consistently rewarding viewing. Emigrating from North London to Africa, it was one of the things that a woman in a recent Cutting Edge documentary was most worried about was missing. As it enters its fifth season, the series shows no sign of waning. After all, what other mere TV show could keep hold of a movie star such as George Clooney (right) if it didn't maintain seriously high standards? In the first episode of a new series, we see the whirligig of action through the eyes of a newcomer to the Emergency Room, eager young medical student Lucy Knight. As you might expect, she is thrown into the deep end without a lifebelt. An old trick, deftly executed.

James Rampton