Anna Friel Is Back on the Ward and She’s Terrifying in Stan’s New Medical Drama
Stan and CBS Studios have officially dropped the first trailer for The F Ward, and it confirms what anyone who watched Anna Friel in Marcella already knew — the woman does formidable better than almost anyone on television.
Friel plays Dr. Gloria Wall, a fearsome, take-no-prisoners general surgeon running a group of struggling interns through their final shot at Pines Hospital. As Deadline confirmed, it’s a six-part series co-created by Dan Edwards and Kelsey Munro (Bump) for production house Roadshow Rough Diamond. Natalie Bailey (Down Cemetery Road) and Neil Sharma (Critical Incident) are directing.
The cast alongside Friel includes Ioane Sa’ula (Bump), Lola Bond (Last Days of the Space Age), Alex Fitzalan (Stan Original Prosper), Emily Barclay (Babyteeth), Annie Boyle (Colin from Accounts), and Rishab Kern. So the ensemble is stacked with Antipodean talent, which is always a good sign.
The F Ward
The show follows a new cohort of med school graduates who all washed out of their first year as interns. Pines Hospital is underfunded and overwhelmed — premature pregnancies, impossible surgeries, bureaucratic obstruction, the works. The kind of place where you either become a doctor fast or you don’t become one at all. Sparks fly, workplace romances burn, friendships form. The usual. Except Anna Friel is watching.
The F Ward launches on Stan on July 17. Paramount was selling the series at the LA Screenings last month. UK audiences looking to catch it should keep an eye on Paramount’s distribution pipeline — no British platform deal has been announced yet, though with Paramount’s existing UK footprint through Paramount+, a deal wouldn’t be a stretch.
If you’ve been sleeping on Anna Friel since Pushing Daisies, this trailer is a decent reminder not to look a gift horse in the mouth. We’ll keep you posted on updates about The F Ward as the project develops.
Lewis Calvert Founder & Editor, BriefLedger
Lewis founded BriefLedger and has six years of experience covering film, TV, and entertainment news. He leads the site’s Movies and TV sections and runs the news desk — always with a straight-talking British take.
