For Better or For Worse (Na dobre i na złe) is a Polish medical drama that’s been airing since 1999. It’s one of the longest-running Polish TV shows ever, with more than 600 45-minute episodes.
The show is essentially your standard medical drama; it takes place at a hospital in a small town near Warsaw and tells the stories of the three main characters, all doctors. Each episode features side plots about various patients and other periphery characters—nurses, other doctors, family members. There are various love affairs between the doctors and hospital staff, with all the attending drama; there are also some highly dramatic events reminiscent of Grey’s Anatomy, down to an episode in which a bomb went off in the hospital. There have been a ton of characters over the years, as people die, move away, break up, etc., etc., etc.
The show’s current main star, Anita Sokołowska, who has been on the show since 2004 playing Lena, had a career as a theater actor and ballet dancer before joining the show. She also took part in the celebrity edition of Poland’s Top Chef in 2016.
The show has won a few awards from Telekamera, the Polish TV awards—including best drama series in 2001, 2002, and 2003—but, interestingly, it has also won several medical awards. In 2011 it won awards from the National Health Care System for promoting health, and won an award from a national organization fighting depression for its contributions to the fight against depression.
Director: Maciej Pieprzyca and others
Stars: Anita Sokołowska, Bartosz Opania, Piotr Garlicki, Katarzyna Dąbrowska, Marcin Rogacewicz, Emilia Komarnicka, Michał Żebrowski, Grzegorz Daukszewicz, and others
Production company: TVP, Artrama Sp.z o.o.
TV channel: TVP2
The show’s official website.
A recent (2017) episode of the show:
