“Dr. Death” turns two true crimes into television, and it mostly earns the trust it asks for. The series, created by Patrick Macmanus and Ashley Michel Hoban, runs two seasons on Peacock, each telling a separate story about a doctor who broke the rules. The first season follows Christopher Duntsch, the American neurosurgeon who permanently damaged his patients and killed two of them. The second season turns to Paolo Macchiarini, the Swiss surgeon and medical researcher convicted of experimenting on his patients. Both stories land as dramas, not thrillers, and both seasons ask viewers to sit with the weight of what a broken system can do to real people.
Trailer, via Peacock.
Duntsch’s Season
The first season stars Jamie Dornan as Dr. Christopher Duntsch, Alec Baldwin as Robert Henderson, and Christian Slater as Randall Kirby. The cast adds Grace Gummer, Molly Griggs, AnnaSophia Robb, Chris Sullivan, Joshua Jackson, Dominic Burgess, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Maryann Plunkett, Carrie Preston, Rita Volk, Judy Reyes, Jack Davenport, Annika Boras, and Sandra Andreis across its run. The story moves through the legal fight against Duntsch, told largely from the point of view of his victims and the lawyers trying to stop him. It is a slow burn, and it works best when it lets the grief of the families take center stage.
Macchiarini’s Season
The second season shifts focus entirely. Édgar Ramírez takes over as Paolo Macchiarini, with Mandy Moore as Benita Alexander, Ashley Madekwe as Dr. Ana Lasbrey, Gustaf Hammarsten as Dr. Svensson, and Luke Kirby as Dr. Nathan Gamelli. This season leans harder on the scientific details, showing how Macchiarini’s experiments crossed lines the law was meant to hold. The change in tone is noticeable, and the show handles it well. The story here is less about a single bad actor and more about a system that let a dangerous man keep working for years.
Two Doctors, One Pattern
The two seasons share a common thread: a doctor whose skill masked a deeper cruelty, and a justice system that took far too long to catch up. Duntsch was caught early enough to save some lives. Macchiarini’s victims had no such luck. That difference shapes how each season feels, even though the basic outline stays the same.
| Season | Doctor | Victims | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Duntsch | Patients permanently damaged, two killed | Convicted |
| Season 2 | Macchiarini | Patients experimented on | Convicted |
The table shows the pattern clearly. Both doctors hurt people badly, and both were eventually stopped. But the scale of the harm differs, and the show does not hide that difference.
What Works, What Doesn’t
The acting holds up across both seasons. Dornan carries the first season with a performance that lands somewhere between charming and terrifying. Baldwin and Slater support him well, and the ensemble cast around them gives the show its emotional weight. In the second season, Ramírez takes over with a quieter menace that suits Macchiarini’s more careful approach to cruelty. Moore plays Benita Alexander with a grounded sadness that grounds the story in human terms.
The pacing is where the show stumbles. Some episodes drag, particularly in the middle stretch of the first season, where the legal proceedings take center stage and the stakes feel smaller. The second season improves here, moving faster and staying closer to the science behind Macchiarini’s work. But the show’s anthology format means each season starts from scratch, and the first season spends extra time establishing its world anew.
“An anthology series, with each season following a new medical true crime story.”
That line, from the show’s description, sums up the whole project. It is a bold idea, and the show mostly delivers on it. The stories are real, the performances are strong, and the show never pretends that justice comes easily.
Final Word
“Dr. Death” is a solid, often gripping piece of true-crime television. It is not perfect, and it does not need to be. The two seasons cover different ground, and each finds its own rhythm. The first season drags in places, while the second moves with a tighter energy. Together, they form a complete picture of a broken system that allowed two dangerous men to practice medicine for years before anyone stopped them.
The show’s greatest strength is its refusal to look away from the damage these men caused. It does not soften the stories or turn them into simple morality tales. Instead, it shows the real pain of families who lost loved ones, and the real anger of lawyers who fought for years to get a conviction. That honesty is rare in this kind of programming, and it is the reason the show succeeds.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
