In Dr Park’s Clinic, K-drama mockumentary series, neighbourhood doctor struggles to find his feet

Lee Seo-jin plays an ordinary Korean man who followed his dreams to become a doctor, but opens a neighbourhood practice that is struggling to survive

With its half-hour episodes and relatable humour, the show is never a slog, yet its unsubtle jokes and dry staging give the cast few opportunities to shine

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Lee Seo-jin in a scene from Korean medical comedy-drama Dr Park’s Clinic, a series that relies on broad humour and short episodes for its appeal.

Published: 6:15pm, 20 Jan 2022

Halfway through January, Korea’s CJ ENM has launched its second medical comedy-drama of 2022, but despite that seemingly limiting tag the shows couldn’t be further apart.

Following tvN’s supernaturally tinged drama Ghost Doctor with K-pop star Rain, our latest trip into South Korea’s busy medical field is the streaming platform Tving’s original Dr Park’s Clinic, a half-hour show following an Office-style mockumentary format that is filled with very broad and relatable humour.

A million miles from the sleek university medical centres and VIP wards of Hospital Playlist and its ilk, the show follows a bumbling, but well-meaning middle-aged doctor who strikes out on his own by launching a neighbourhood practice but struggles to keep the business and his spirits afloat.

Last seen in the thriller series Times, Lee Seo-jin heads the cast as Park Won-jang, an ordinary Korean man who followed his dreams to become a doctor, the most prized profession in the country.

However, his hopes of driving a sports car and being a rich and benevolent doctor looked up to by the community have yet to materialise. Now the middle-aged Won-jang, who masks his baldness with a wig and strives to support his spendthrift wife Sa Mo-rim (Ra Mi-ran) and two children, sets up his own practice, a friendly neighbourhood internal medicine clinic.