Doctor Stranger (Korean: 닥터 이방인; RR: Dakteo 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.
| Doctor Stranger | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Medical Romance |
| Written by | Park Jin-woo Kim Joo |
| Directed by | Jin Hyuk Hong Jong-chan |
| Starring | Lee Jong-suk Jin Se-yeon Park Hae-jin Kang So-ra |
| Composer | Kim Jang-woo |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Han Jung-hwan Koh Dae-hwa Lim Sung-gyun |
| Producer | Park Chang-yong |
| Production locations | Seoul, South Korea Budapest, Hungary |
| Running time | Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 (KST) |
| Production company | Aura Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | Seoul Broadcasting System |
| Release | May 5 – July 8, 2014 |
Synopsis
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
Main
- Lee Jong-suk as Park Hoon 박훈
- Goo Seung-hyun as young Park Hoon
- 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.
- Park Hae-jin as Han Jae-joon 한재준/ Lee Sung-hoon 이성훈
- Kim Ji-hoon as young Lee Sung-hoon
- 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.
- Kang So-ra as Oh Soo-hyun 오수현
- Shin Soo-yeon as young Oh Soo-hyun
- Daughter of the chairman of Myungwoo Hospital, a cardiothoracic surgeon
Supporting
- 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
| Doctor Stranger OST | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Recorded | 2014 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Language | |
| Label | Yedang C&S Well-Made Yedang |
Part 1
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Stranger" (이방인) | Bobby Kim | 3:42 |
Part 2
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Meet You Know" (지금만나러가요) | Lee Ki-chan | 4:05 |
| 2. | "Meet You Know" (Inst.) | 4:05 | |
| Total length: | 8:01 | ||
Part 3
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Good Day Like This" (이렇게좋은날) | Jeon Hye-won | 3:36 |
| 2. | "A Good Day Like This" (Inst.) | 3:36 | |
| Total length: | 7:32 | ||
Part 4
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Because of You" (당신때문에) | Park Jung-ah | 3:28 |
| 2. | "Because of You" (Inst.) | 3:28 | |
| Total length: | 7:56 | ||
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Am a Stranger" (Opening Title) | Kim Jang Woo | 3:20 |
| 2. | "Dangerous Guys" | Kim Jang Woo | 3:00 |
| 3. | "Escape" | Kim Jang Woo | 3:35 |
| 4. | "G.R.B" | Kim Jang Woo | 3:30 |
| 5. | "Memory" | Kim Jang Woo | 4:45 |
| 6. | "New Life" | Kim Jang Woo | 2:40 |
| 7. | "Promise" | Kim Jang Woo | 3:10 |
| 8. | "Team Strangers" | Kim Jang Woo | 3:40 |
| 9. | "The Meaning of Tears" | Kim Jang Woo | 3:50 |
| 10. | "Right Way" | Kim Jang Woo | 4:59 |
Production and broadcast
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
| 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
| 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
External links
- Official website (in Korean)
- Doctor Stranger at HanCinema
- Doctor Stranger at IMDb
