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Jared Richards
July 16, 2026 — 5:00pm
The F Ward ★★★★
Let’s get this out of the way: The F Ward is an excellent medical drama, but it’s not merely Australia’s answer to The Pitt. Created by part of the team behind Stan’s award-winning Bump, Dan Edwards and Kelsey Munro’s new six-part series stands on its own, thanks to its deeply dialled-in cast, understated script and fresh premise.
Spanning several months, The F Ward opens on day one of its titular program, where a small group of would-be doctors is given a second and final chance at a Sydney hospital, after previously failing their internships.
Each have their own flaws. Passionate to a fault, Jimmy (Ioane Sa’ula) ignores protocol when he sees fit, while ace student Ellie (Lola Bond) is, if anything, too by the book. Privileged party boy Josh (Alex Fitzalan) is too lax; Yosef (Rishab Kern) can’t stitch up patients without vomiting; mother-of-two Lisa (Emily Barclay) struggles to find a balance.
“Given past experience, a quarter of you will be gone in six months,” says general surgeon and F Ward founder Gloria, played by UK actor Anna Friel.
Wearing orange scrubs in a sea of blues, the interns can’t hide their mix of embarrassment, determination and self-doubt – their colleagues bet on who will be first to fail, and every minor interaction is a test.
They don’t really need the extra pressure. The underfunded, understaffed fictional Pines Hospital on Sydney’s Northern Beaches offers up plenty of challenges on the first day alone, including a failing generator in a heavy storm, an overwhelmed emergency room and the return of a “mystery shitter”.
Sometimes the pile-on of mishaps can feel ridiculous, as can the grace given to the intern’s mistakes – though compared to Grey’s Anatomy, The F Ward is kitchen-sink realism. (And don’t worry too much about that second point, either.) Its malady of medical issues is neither too cliche or House-levels of convoluted – and for those curious, it’s graphic but not gory, with plenty of wounds and at least one surgery scene each episode.
At its core, The F Ward is a character study of smart, talented people whose flaws – be it perfectionism, hot-headedness, a self-protective veneer of cool – keep getting in their own way.
It’s hard to pick a standout performance, though it’s a particularly excellent showcase for Sa’ula, who is magnetic in his first lead role, and Bond, who is given the show’s darkest, deepest scenes of guilt and grief as Ellie.
The F Ward is a nuanced, well-written medical drama with a premise that could steadily introduce new characters and dynamics; I hope it gets another season.
The F Ward streams on Stan from July 17. (Stan is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead).
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