Netherlands’ SBS to remake Sony’s Strong Medicine

Dutch broadcaster SBS is to remake American hospital drama Strong Medicine into a reality series after striking a deal with Sony Pictures Television’s Tuvalu Media.

The network has ordered 30x30mins series for its female skewing network Net5 after signing the deal with Sony’s Dutch production division.

The original scripted series ran for 130 episodes on US cable network Lifetime and was executive produced by Whoopi Goldberg. It followed the lives of staff in a women’s health clinic in Philadelphia.

The Dutch reality version will be known as Dokters locally and will be stripped weekdays in a primetime 8pm slot. It will launch in late October.

“They say life imitates art and this new format will soon have it imitating television as well,” says Tuvalu Media joint managing director, Duurt Holman. “Drama plots can seem far-fetched but Stories From the Hospital (Dokters) proves this wrong as authentic characters and experiences give a second, and very real, life to what was previously only fiction.”

Sony Pictures Television’s international production and distribution teams will launch the new format to international buyers at MIPCOM.