# Good Doctor (South Korean TV series)

Good Doctor (Korean: 굿 닥터; RR: Gut Dakteo) is a 2013 South Korean medical drama television series starring Joo Won, Moon Chae-won, Joo Sang-wook, Kim Min-seo, Chun Ho-jin, Kwak Do-won, and Ko Chang-seok. It aired on KBS2 from August 5 to October 8, 2013, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes. The early working title was Green Scalpel (Korean: 그린 메스; RR: Geurin Meseu; lit. "Green Mes").

## Synopsis

Park Si-on (Joo Won) is a savant on the autism spectrum who was sent to a specialized care center as a child, where he was discovered to have a genius-level memory and keen spatial skills. He eventually enters the field of pediatric surgery as a resident, where he is given six months to prove himself capable. However, due to his atypical mental and emotional condition, Si-on faces conflict from his peers and patients, who view him as childlike and unreliable. Most critical is the hotheaded surgeon Kim Do-han (Joo Sang-wook). Do-han was requested by the young surgeon's mentor, Choi Woo-seok (Chun Ho-jin), who is also a director of the hospital, to guide him but is unwilling to do so, as he labels him a soulless robot of a doctor who can only rely heavily on his photographic memory instead of feeling what the patient needs. Despite help from understanding and fair colleagues like Cha Yoon-seo (Moon Chae-won) and Han Jin-wook (Kim Young-kwang), the hospital is a fierce and competitive world, and the challenges Si-on faces become only greater when he falls in love with Yoon-seo, a fellow doctor at the hospital.

## Cast
### Main

* Joo Won as Park Si-on
** Choi Ro-woon as young Si-on
* Moon Chae-won as Cha Yoon-seo
* Joo Sang-wook as Kim Do-han
* Kim Min-seo as Yoo Chae-kyung

### Supporting
#### Sungwon University Hospital officials

* Chun Ho-jin as Choi Woo-seok, director
* Kwak Do-won as Kang Hyun-tae, deputy director
* Na Young-hee as Lee Yeo-won, chairwoman of the board
* Jo Hee-bong as Go Choong-man, head of the Pediatric Surgery department
* Lee Ki-yeol as Lee Hyuk-pil, managing director of the foundation
* Jung Man-sik as Kim Jae-joon, head of the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic Surgery department

#### Department of Pediatric Surgery

* Kim Young-kwang as Han Jin-wook
    A warm and friendly fourth-year resident, who first approaches Park Shi-on when he is shunned by the others.
* Yoon Park as Woo Il-kyu, second-year resident
* Yoon Bong-gil as Hong Gil-nam, second-year resident
* Wang Ji-won as Kim Sun-joo, intern

#### Nursing division

* Ko Chang-seok as Jo Jung-mi, senior nurse
* Jin Kyung as Nam Joo-yeon, head nurse
* Lee Ah-rin as Ga-kyung
* Ha Kyu-won as Hye-jin

#### Children's ward

* Kim Hyun-soo as Na In-hae
* Uhm Hyun-kyung as Na In-young
* Ahn Sung-hoon as Lee Woo-ram
* Yoo Je-gun as Park Ho-suk
* Lee Jang-kyung as Kim Ye-eun
* Oh Eun-chan as Cha Dong-jin
* Yoo Hae-jung as Eun-ok
* Jung Yoon-seok as Kyu-hyun

#### Others

* Yoon Yoo-sun as Oh Kyung-joo, Shi-on's mother
* Jung Ho-keun as Park Choon-sung, Shi-on's father
* Seo Hyun-chul as Byung-soo
* Jeon Jun-hyeok as Park Si-deok, Shi-on's older brother
** Ryu Deok-hwan as adult Si-deok (cameo, ep 10)
* Ban Min-jung as Kyu-hyun's mother
* Kim Chang-wan as Chairman Jung

### Special appearances

* Kwak Ji-min as Lee Soo-jin (guest appearance, ep 10–12)
* Moon Hee-kyung as Mrs. Jang, Soo-jin's mother-in-law
* Kim Sun-hwa as Eun-ok's aunt
* Seo Kang-joon as one of the punks who want to beat up Shi-on (ep 12)
* In Gyo-jin as Soo-jin's husband (cameo, ep 12)
* Yoo Jae-myung as the killer (ep 15)
* Kim Young-hee as staff of the family restaurant (ep 17)
* Gong Jung-hwan as Professor of Neurosurgery Department (ep 17)
* Park Ki-woong as Woong-ki (cameo, ep 20)

## Ratings

Good Doctor made a strong debut on the TV ratings chart. It maintained the number one spot in its timeslot for most of its run, with an average viewership rating of 18.0% (AGB Nielsen) and 17.4% (TNmS).
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nielsen Korea | Nielsen Korea | TNmS Ratings | TNmS Ratings |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul |
| 1 | August 5, 2013 | 10.9% | 11.6% | 10.5% | 10.3% |
| 2 | August 6, 2013 | 14.0% | 15.1% | 13.6% | 14.6% |
| 3 | August 12, 2013 | 15.3% | 16.2% | 13.8% | 14.6% |
| 4 | August 13, 2013 | 15.8% | 15.8% | 15.9% | 16.9% |
| 5 | August 19, 2013 | 18.0% | 18.5% | 16.5% | 17.6% |
| 6 | August 20, 2013 | 19.0% | 20.0% | 18.4% | 20.4% |
| 7 | August 26, 2013 | 17.4% | 18.2% | 17.2% | 18.1% |
| 8 | August 27, 2013 | 18.4% | 18.5% | 17.5% | 19.0% |
| 9 | September 2, 2013 | 17.4% | 17.4% | 17.0% | 18.3% |
| 10 | September 3, 2013 | 18.4% | 18.3% | 18.5% | 20.5% |
| 11 | September 9, 2013 | 18.3% | 18.7% | 18.3% | 20.2% |
| 12 | September 10, 2013 | 19.4% | 19.4% | 20.0% | 22.2% |
| 13 | September 16, 2013 | 17.9% | 18.4% | 17.5% | 19.3% |
| 14 | September 17, 2013 | 18.6% | 19.3% | 18.9% | 20.3% |
| 15 | September 23, 2013 | 19.6% | 20.3% | 18.5% | 20.2% |
| 16 | September 24, 2013 | 21.5% | 22.8% | 20.9% | 22.7% |
| 17 | September 30, 2013 | 20.3% | 21.1% | 18.0% | 20.5% |
| 18 | October 1, 2013 | 20.6% | 21.5% | 19.0% | 21.4% |
| 19 | October 7, 2013 | 19.0% | 20.0% | 17.6% | 20.1% |
| 20 | October 8, 2013 | 19.2% | 19.5% | 19.5% | 22.4% |
| Average | Average | 18.0% | 18.5% | 17.4% | 18.9% |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2013 | 26th Grimae Awards | Best Drama | Good Doctor | Won |
| 2013 | Korea Drama Awards | Best Drama | Good Doctor | Nominated |
| 2013 | Korea Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Joo Won | Nominated |
| 2013 | Korea Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Joo Sang-wook | Nominated |
| 2013 | Korea Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress | Moon Chae-won | Nominated |
| 2013 | Korea Drama Awards | Best Writer | Park Jae-bum | Won |
| 2013 | APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Joo Won | Nominated |
| 2013 | APAN Star Awards | Excellence Award, Actor | Joo Sang-wook | Nominated |
| 2013 | APAN Star Awards | Excellence Award, Actress | Moon Chae-won | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Joo Won | Won |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Actor of the Year (selected by directors) | Joo Won | Won |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress | Moon Chae-won | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama | Joo Sang-wook | Won |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama | Joo Won | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama | Moon Chae-won | Won |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Jo Hee-bong | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Ko Chang-seok | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Jin Kyung | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Kim Min-seo | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Best New Actor | Kim Young-kwang | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Young Actor | Jung Yun-seok | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Young Actress | Kim Hyun-soo | Nominated |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Couple Award | Joo Won and Moon Chae-won | Won |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Netizen Award, Actor | Joo Won | Won |
| 2013 | KBS Drama Awards | Popularity Award, Actress | Moon Chae-won | Won |
| 2014 | Korea Producers & Directors' (PD) Awards | Best Drama | Good Doctor | Won |
| 2014 | Korea Producers & Directors' (PD) Awards | Best Performer | Joo Won | Won |
| 2014 | Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Drama | Good Doctor | Won |
| 2014 | Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Director | Ki Min-soo | Nominated |
| 2014 | Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor | Joo Won | Nominated |
| 2014 | Banff World Media Festival | Best Serial Drama | Good Doctor | Won |
| 2014 | Korea Broadcasting Awards | Best Drama | Good Doctor | Won |
| 2014 | Seoul International Drama Awards | Best Mini-series | Good Doctor | Runner-up |
In November 2013, the Korea Association of the Welfare Institutes for the Disabled gave the series a plaque of recognition for creating awareness about autism and how socially challenged individuals can contribute to society. In December 2013, Good Doctor also received an award from the Disability Awareness Campaign Headquarters and was designated as a "Good Program" by the Korea Communications Standards Commission.

## International adaptations
### American

An American remake of the same name, produced by Daniel Dae Kim, debuted in late September 2017 on ABC. The story of a surgeon with autism is set in San Jose, California, airing during fall of 2017.

### Japanese

A Japanese remake of the same name starred Kento Yamazaki, Juri Ueno, and Naohito Fujiki aired from July 12 to September 13, 2018, on Fuji TV.

### Turkish

A Turkish remake called Mucize Doktor produced by Asena Bülbüloğlu debuted on September 12, 2019, on Fox Turkey.

### Hong Kong

Dr. Koo Hei-sun is a character inspired by Park Si-on in Life After Death, produced by Kwan Shu-ming and Kwan Man-sum. It debuted on June 8, 2020, on TVB.

### Thailand

A Thailand remake of the same name, produced by True4U, TrueVisions, and True CJ Creations, debuted in October 2024 on the True ID application, and True Asian More channel 120/239 for TrueVisions subscribers. This version Sarun Naraprasertkul and Chayanit Chansangavej take the lead roles as Dr. Shone and Dr. Preem.