Microbes and Men – a miniseries in six parts – is a medical drama which premiered on British television (BBC) in 1974.
It is based on real events: the lives and careers of several famous scholars (mostly doctors) who try to understand and possibly combat a number of deadly diseases.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Narrator: Frank
Gillard (1908-1998)
** Producer: Peter
Goodchild (born 1939)
** Directors: John Glenister, Peter Jones, Simon Langton, and Denis Postle
** Writers: Bruce Norman, John Wiles, and Martin Worth
** Based on the book Microbes and Men by Robert Reid (1974)
** Soundtrack: English
** Subtitles: English (optional: turn on/turn off)
** Released on DVD
in 2015 (2 discs)
** Run time: 6 x 55 minutes = 330 minutes
Microbes and Men is a historical drama about important discoveries in the world of medicine. The scholars, whose lives and careers are covered here, include the following:
From Hungary
** Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818-1865)
From France
** Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
** Pierre Paul Emile Roux (1853-1933)
From Germany
** Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902)
** Robert Koch (1843-1910)
** Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915)
** Emil von Behring (1854-1917)
From the UK
** Sir Almroth Wright (1861-1947)
The cast includes the following:
** Robert Lang (1934-2004) as Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis
** Sandra Payne (born 1944) as Marie Semmelweis
(his wife)
** Arthur Lowe (1915-1982) as Louis Pasteur
** Antonia Pemberton (born 1927) as Marie Pasteur
(his wife)
** Charles Key (born 1930) as Pierre Paul Emile Roux
** Frank Gatliff (1927-1990) as Rudolf Virchow
** James Grout (1927-2012) as Robert Koch
** Patricia Heneghan (born 1934) as Emmy Koch
(Robert’s first wife)
** Cheryl Murray (born 1952) as Hedwig Freiberg
(Robert’s second wife)
** Milo O’Shea (1926-2013) as Paul Ehrlich
** David Swift (1931-2016) as Emil von Behring
** Michael Gough (1916-2011) as Sir Almroth Wright
As stated above, there are six episodes.
Here are the headlines:
# 1. The Invisible Enemy
# 2. A Germ is Life
# 3. Men of Little Faith
# 4. Certain Death
# 5. The Tuberculin Affair
# 6. The Search for the Magic Bullet
Deadly diseases and related issues covered in the drama include the following: puerperal fever (childbed fever); fermentation; bacteria; cholera; anthrax; rabies; diphtheria; tuberculosis; typhoid; syphilis; and the medical product Salvarsan.
In this drama, we see the famous scholars and the people around them. We see them when they are working, trying to discover the mysteries of deadly diseases.
We see success, when things are going well for them; we also see failure, when there is a setback.
What are their motives?
What is driving them?
The first answer: they want to help people who are suffering, which is a noble and unselfish motive.
But this is not all. There is more. Some of them have personal ambitions: they want to be rich; they want to be famous in the medical establishment.
In addition, there is competition and rivalry among scholars and among nations. Nationalism is often a motive.
Some French scholars work “for the glory of France.” Some German scholars want to prove that “Germany is better than France.”
Microbes and Men covers the scientific development in the world of medical science during more than six decades: from 1848, when the Hungarian doctor Semmelweis is working in Vienna, to 1915, when the German doctor Paul Ehrlich passes away.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 87 percent, which corresponds to 4.4 stars on Amazon.
On Amazon there are at the moment more than 50 ratings of this product, more than 20 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.7 stars which corresponds to a rating of 94 percent.
If you ask me, both these average ratings are too high.
Why?
The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. The stories are captivating, dramatic and emotional.
In addition, they are based on true events. Each case is literally a matter of life and death.
As you can see, there is much to like here, but I cannot go all the way to the top with this product.
Why not?
This drama is good, but not great. There is a flaw which cannot be ignored. This flaw is the language that is used by the actors. They all speak English!
Semmelweis is in Vienna, Pasteur is in France, and Paul Koch is in Berlin: but they all speak English!
This is not right!
In Vienna and Berlin, they speak German.
In Paris they speak French.
English is the proper language in episode # 6 when we meet Sir Almroth Wright - whose nickname was Sir Almost Right! This is the only time English is the proper language.
A historical drama is about historical accuracy. The people behind the drama make many efforts to make everything look realistic:
(1) They try to find good locations
(2) They try to dress the actors in the proper clothes
(3) They try to make sure that the proper technology is seen and used (no cars in the 17th century; no mobile phones in the 19th century)
But what about the language spoken by the actors? This is a significant aspect of the total product. But this aspect is completely ignored!
Why?
When doctors from Hungary, Germany, and France speak English, the drama is not realistic. Historical truth is violated in a serious way.
I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see there is a flaw which cannot be overlooked.
I have to remove one star because of this. This is why I want to offer a rating of four stars (80 percent).
PS # 1. Charité is a German television series which premiered on German television (ARD) in 2017. It is about the famous hospital in Berlin.
So far there are three seasons:
** 2017 = The first season
** 2019 = The second season
** 2021 = The third season
In this historical drama we meet some of the famous German doctors from the 19th and the 20th centuries and here they speak German, as they should!
Robert Koch appears in season one (2017).
PS # 2. Koch und Pasteur: Duell im Reich der Mikroben is the German title of a docudrama which premiered in 2018.
The French title is slightly different:
Pasteur et Koch:
Un duel de géants dans le monde des microbes
Notice how the order of the names is reversed. In the German version, Koch is named first. In the French version, Pasteur is named first.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Director: Mathieu Schwartz
** Run time: 95 minutes
In 2022, this docudrama was shown on French and German television (arte). The German version of this film is available on YouTube.
PS # 3. One obvious case and one obvious doctor are missing from this series about dangerous diseases:
In 1854, there was a serious outbreak of cholera in London. The local doctor John Snow (1813–1858) began to investigate the problem and he found the answer.
Cholera is a waterborne disease. The source of the outbreak was the water pump in Broad Street which delivered polluted water. This was the reason many people were dying.
Once the source was identified, Snow also knew how the disease could be avoided.
The story about John Snow and the infamous Broad Street pump is not included in this medical drama about doctors and dangerous diseases.
For information about John Snow and his investigation, see the following item:
The Medical Detective:
John Snow and the Mystery of Cholera
by Sandra Hempel
(2006) (2007)
The story of John Snow and his ground-breaking investigation of cholera is mentioned in an episode of the recent television series about Queen Victoria:
Victoria
Season 3 episode 4
“Foreign Bodies”
Aired in February 2019
*****
Microbes and men
By Robert Reid
(1974)
*****
The British doctor
John Snow (1813-1858)
who investigated the 1854 outbreak of
cholera in London and
discovered the cause of the disease
*****
The Medical Detective:
John Snow and the Mystery of Cholera
by Sandra Hempel
(Hardcover 2006)
(Paperback 2007)
*****
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