Doctor Prisoner

Doctor Prisoner (Korean: 닥터 프리즈너) is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Namkoong Min, Kwon Nara, Choi Won-young and Kim Byung-chul. It aired on KBS2's Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) from March 20 to May 15, 2019.^[2]

Doctor Prisoner
Promotional poster
Also known as	Dr. Prisoner
Hangul	닥터 프리즈너
RR	Dakteo peurijeuneo
MR	Takt'ŏ p'ŭrijŭnŏ
Genre	Medical drama
Created by	KBS Drama Division
Written by	Park Kye-ok
Directed by	Hwang In-hyuk
Starring	Namkoong Min Kwon Nara Kim Byung-chul Choi Won-young
Composer	Park Se-joon
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	32[a]
Production
Executive producer	Hwang Eui-kyung (KBS)
Producers	Ahn Hyung-joo Kang Min-kyung
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	35 minutes[a]
Production company	Jidam Inc.
Original release
Network	KBS2 AXN Korea
Release	March 20 (2019-03-20) – May 15, 2019 (2019-05-15)

Synopsis

A skilled doctor is forced to quit working at a hospital after being falsely accused of medical malpractice by a spoiled son of a wealthy chaebol who owns the hospital where he works. He starts working in a prison that reserved for the elites with the goal of acquiring enough connections to take his revenge.

Cast

Main

• Namkoong Min as Na Yi-je^[3][4]

A talented doctor who always cares about his patients but has to quit the hospital after an incident happens.

• Kwon Nara as Han So-geum^[5][6]

A psychiatrist who works at Taegang Hospital and volunteers in prison.

• Kim Byung-chul as Seon Min-sik^[7][8]

A medical director who works at the prison.

• Choi Won-young as Lee Jae-joon^[9]

Primary successor to major conglomerate Taegang Group.

Supporting

Taegang Group's family

• Jin Hee-kyung as Mo Yi-ra^[10]

A former actress who becomes the second wife of Lee Duk-sung.

• Lee Da-in as Lee Jae-in^[10]

Youngest daughter of the Taegang family who has both looks and brains. In order to protect her family, she enters law school to become a lawyer.

• Park Eun-seok as Lee Jae-hwan^[10]

Second son of the Taegang family. His insecurity as the son of the second wife makes him a troublemaker.

People at West Seoul Prison

• Lee Min-young as Bok Hye-soo

A medical pharmacist. Na Yi-je saved her brother when the latter was an inmate.

• Lee Jun-hyeok as Go Young-cheol

A funny medical doctor who is secretly working for Lee Jae-joon.

• Kang Shin-il as Kim Sang-chun

An inmate who was sentenced to life in prison.

• Jang Joon-nyoung as Tae Choon-Ho

Friend of the inmate Kim Sang-Chun

• Lee Yong-joon as Hyun Jae-min
• Lee Hyun-jyun as Supervisor Ham Gil-Sun
• Park Soo-young as Supervisor Oh Cheol-Min
• Kang Hong-seok as Shin Hyun-Sang

The Head of the Thug inmates group

Others

• Jang Hyun-sung as Prosecutor Jung Wi-sik
• Bae Yoon-kyung as Jung Se-jin
• Ha Young as Na Yi-hyeon
• Kim Jung-nan as Oh Jung-Hee
• Choi Deok-moon as Center Chief of Taegang Hospital
• Chae Dong-hyun as Choi Dong-Hoon

Doctor at Taegang Hospital

• Kim Dae-ryeong as Choi Jung-Woo

Secretary of Lee Jae-Joon

• Woo Mi-hwa as Kim Young-Sun

Wife of Director Seon Min-sik

• Kang Ji-hoo as Prosecutor Kang
• Nam Kyoung-eub as Congressman Jung Min-Je
• Oh Dong-min as Moon Yong-Sung
• Jung In-gyeom as Seon Min-Joong
• Ryeoun as Han Bit

Younger brother of Han So-geum

• Song Duk-ho as Surgical intern

Special appearances

• Park Ji-yeon as Ha-Eun's mother (ep.1-2)
• Lee Joo-seung as Kim Seok-woo (Ep. 3, 9-12)
• Kim Ji-eun as Oh Min-jeong (Ep. 10, 12)
• Park Se-hyun as Kim Hye-Jin
• Yang Dae-hyuk as Kang Sun-woo
• Bae Seung-ik as Hong Nam-Pyo

Production

The first script reading took place in January 2019 at KBS Broadcasting Station in Yeouido, South Korea.^[11]

Original soundtrack

Doctor Prisoner OST
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Recorded	2019
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean English
Label	Best Korea, 935 Entertainment, Donuts MusicN

Part 1

Released on March 27, 2019 (2019-03-27)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Fearless"	Innovator	SlyBerry Hickee	Woo Hye-mi Innovator	3:29
2.	"Fearless" (Inst.)		SlyBerry Hickee		3:29
Total length:					6:58

Part 2

Released on April 3, 2019 (2019-04-03)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Eyes"	Nuvocity1 (Hong Joo-hee) Nuvocity2 (Kim Young-bin)	Nuvocity1 (Hong Joo-hee) Nuvocity2 (Kim Young-bin)	Hoody	3:26
2.	"Eyes" (Inst.)		Nuvocity1 (Hong Joo-hee) Nuvocity2 (Kim Young-bin)		3:26
Total length:					6:52

Part 3

Released on April 10, 2019 (2019-04-10)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Pass Away"	My Neighbour Bachelor	Microwave	Fil	3:16
2.	"Pass Away" (Inst.)		Microwave		3:16
Total length:					6:32

Part 4

Released on April 18, 2019 (2019-04-18)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Melting The Sun" (태양에 녹여)	Park Se-joon Han Joon	Choi Han-sol Han Kyung-soo	Lee Soo (MC The Max)	4:01
2.	"Melting The Sun" (Inst.)		Choi Han-sol Han Kyung-soo		4:01
Total length:					8:02

Viewership

• In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
• N/A denotes that the rating is not known.

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		AGB Nielsen[12]		TNmS
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	March 20, 2019	8.4% (8th)	8.6% (6th)	9.0%
2		9.8% (6th)	10.2% (5th)	10.1%
3	March 21, 2019	12.2% (5th)	12.8% (4th)	10.8%
4		14.1% (3rd)	15.0% (2nd)	12.7%
5	March 27, 2019	12.1% (5th)	12.2% (4th)	11.3%
6		13.9% (3rd)	14.2% (2nd)	13.1%
7	March 28, 2019	13.0% (4th)	14.0% (4th)	11.8%
8		14.5% (3rd)	15.6% (2nd)	13.1%
9	April 3, 2019	13.2% (4th)	13.5% (4th)	12.0%
10		15.4% (2nd)	15.9% (2nd)	12.8%
11	April 4, 2019	13.3% (4th)	15.0% (3rd)	11.5%
12		14.6% (3rd)	16.0% (2nd)	13.0%
13	April 10, 2019	12.7% (4th)	13.3% (3rd)	12.0%
14		15.2% (3rd)	15.9% (2nd)	13.3%
15	April 11, 2019	12.5% (4th)	13.6% (3rd)	—
16		14.7% (2nd)	16.2% (2nd)
17	April 17, 2019	12.4% (4th)	12.9% (3rd)	12.4%
18		14.5% (3rd)	14.7% (2nd)	13.6%
19	April 18, 2019	12.3% (4th)	13.5% (3rd)	11.8%
20		14.7% (2nd)	16.2% (2nd)	12.6%
21	April 24, 2019	12.6% (4th)	13.2% (3rd)	11.8%
22		14.6% (3rd)	15.4% (2nd)	13.1%
23	April 25, 2019	11.5% (4th)	13.2% (4th)	10.9%
24		13.4% (3rd)	15.0% (3rd)	12.5%
25	May 1, 2019	12.3% (4th)	12.9% (2nd)	11.7%
26		13.6% (3rd)	14.5% (1st)	12.5%
27	May 8, 2019	11.9% (4th)	13.2% (2nd)	11.0%
28		14.5% (1st)	16.0% (1st)	12.6%
29	May 9, 2019	12.3% (3rd)	13.7% (2nd)	11.0%
30		14.2% (1st)	15.6% (1st)	12.8%
31	May 15, 2019	13.2% (4th)	14.7% (2nd)	12.2%
32		15.8% (1st)	17.2% (1st)	13.9%
Average		13.23%	14.18%	—[b]
Special	May 2, 2019	6.0% (14th)	6.2% (12th)	7.0%
		6.8% (9th)	7.2% (6th)	6.6%
Special	May 16, 2019	5.1% (18th)	5.7% (11th)	4.7%
		5.2% (16th)		4.8%

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2019	14th Seoul International Drama Awards	Outstanding Korean Drama	Doctor Prisoner	Won	[13]
	12th Korea Drama Awards	Best Drama		Nominated	[14]
		Best Screenplay	Park Kye-ok	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Kwon Nara	Won	[15]
	KBS Drama Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actor	Namkoong Min	Nominated	[16][unreliable source?]
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries		Nominated
			Choi Won-young	Won
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Kwon Nara	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Kim Byung-chul	Won
			Jang Hyun-sung	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Kim Jung-nan	Won
		Best New Actor	Park Eun-seok	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Kwon Nara	Won
		Netizen Award, Actor	Namkoong Min	Nominated
			Kim Byung-chul	Nominated
			Choi Won-young	Nominated
		Netizen Award, Actress	Kwon Nara	Nominated
		Best Couple Award	Jang Hyun-sung and Kim Jung-nan	Won

Notes

1. In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.^[1]
2. Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.