I avoided this show when it first aired as I found it quite pretentious and attempting to be weird for no real reason. This arrived on the back of genuine strange but great Channel 4 comedy from Chris Morris, namely Jam. Which to me at the time Green Wing was clearly trying to ape. Not to mention Green Wing also uses some of the same cast.
Having just installed a streaming TV app and noticing this was available I decided to give it a second go. Yes the odd slow mo and score is still here as are the odd physical tics of some character but once you get used to this its actually enjoyable.
Despite all the weird camera tricks its basically just a love triangle sitcom set in a hospital. Its mainly character driven with the three main actors being mostly normal while the rest of the cast are basically extremely exaggerated caricatures who display very bizarre behaviours. The is a strong surrealist element to Green Wing.
The overacting by some characters I actually found irritating, especially the Radiologist who features heavily. He is known for playing oddballs but in Green Wing he is simply too over the top to the point he is frustrating to watch.
The writing comes from the creator of Smack the Pony which I would argue is more fun than Green Wing. The fact its written by a female is evident as its actually very crude from a female perspective, simply put a male would not get away with writing this for female characters, certainly not in the current climate.
This ran for two seasons with a feature length follow up which wraps up all the story arcs, almost. What is odd is that this show took quite a sentimental twist towards the end which upset some people. Including the actors. An alternative ending is online to watch.
Its an interesting and ta times engaging watch if you can stomach the weirdness and zany people at this hospital. Its been compared to Scrubs however it doesnt have the same tone or reliance on Family Guy style cut away gags.
Review of Green Wing
