Hospital Playlist is a gentle, funny and thoughtful drama with a big heart. The casting is perfect, being both age appropriate and believable as doctors and friends of over twenty years. I enjoyed how the writer gradually reveals the character and back-stories of the five leads across the twelve episodes.

The friendship between the five leads is well written and authentic. In real life, most of us have friends dating back to our student days despite not knowing every detail of each other’s lives or what they’re thinking. The writer has captured this, showing how the five of them accept each other without question. The one-to-one exchanges between the lead characters are quiet and thoughtful; and the eating, goofing around and band practice scenes with the five leads together are fun. I love the songs the band play each episode and applaud actress Jeon Mi Do’s (Song Hwa) singing - it can’t be easy for an accomplished singer to sing off-key without over-doing it.

Lee Ik Jun (Jo Jung Suk) is my favourite character; he's caring, selfless and the glue of the group. He also cares about his co-workers, his patients and their families, to the extent that he learnt sign language so he could communicate to his patient's young son. Time and again we see him putting other's needs before his own, first as a father, and as a friend and doctor. I love the scenes between Ik Jun and his son Woo Ju (Kim Jun). Woo Ju is totally adorable and the exchanges between father and son reveal another side of Ik Jun.

I also like the two mothers Rosa and Young Hye. In K-dramas the mothers of that generation are often portrayed as totally helpless with viewers left pondering the disconnect between their mothers' flaky characters and those of their children. But Rosa and Young Hye are both strong, smart and funny and would be the sort of mothers to have raised Jung Won (Yoo Yeon Seok) and Suk Hyung (Kim Dae Myung).

I dislike Jang Gyeo Wool and Ahn Chi Hong. The writer tried too hard to make Gyeo Wool special, for example, making her the only resident in a department of 8+ general surgeons – this is totally preposterous for a hospital the size and prestige of YULJE. There’s also zero chemistry between Gyeo Wool and Jung Won and the actress playing Gyeo Wool can’t act to save her life! Chi Hong is wet and his behaviour after Song Hwa turns him down is creepy and stalker-ish. Yuck!!

I enjoyed Hospital Playlist and seeing how and why Ik Jun, Jun Won and Suk Hyung became who they are. Since the characters Jun Wan (Jung Kyung Ho), despite his romance with Ik Jun’s sister and Song Hwa are still a mystery to me, I hope Hospital Playlist 2 will reveal more.