If you’ve closely followed our coverage, you’ll know we’re crazy about Doc.
And we’re not alone. The breakout hit medical drama is dominating network television and becoming one of the most successful new series of the year.
The series is coming to a close of its first season, but fortunately, Doc has cemented a pleasantly surprising 22-episode season two renewal, and we can find comfort in knowing that we’ll spend more time with all of these great characters.
One of the characters we’re most excited to learn more about is TJ Coleman, played by the affable and charming Patrick Walker.
During Doc Season 1 Episode 9, we finally learned about TJ and Amy’s history, how they met, and how she inspired him to become a doctor.
Sadly, the hour ended on a disconcerting note, as one of Amy’s most loyal, trusted, and faithful colleagues and friends since her return to the hospital is now hurt by her actions.
After TJ’s father had a troubling prognosis, TJ felt betrayed when his father chose Amy’s “Hail Mary” treatment plan over the logic of his own, and now the future of the Coleman men and their relationship is up in the air.
TV Fanatic was thrilled to catch up with Patrick Walker to celebrate the renewal of season two, unpack the events of that emotional episode, and discuss the importance of this role for him.
Please enjoy our exclusive interview, and don’t forget to show him some love!
Of course, I want to congratulate you on the renewal of season two. Twenty-two episodes in this climate is unprecedented!
Yes, thank you so much. We are excited for sure!
On that note, were you surprised by how well viewers have received the show? People really love it.
It has been exciting. You don’t know what to expect when you do a project. I’ve been part of some great projects — my last projects were really great.
Before this, I did Lessons in Chemistry for Apple TV+ and Gaslit for Starz. I did The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey for Apple TV+. Those had mega stars in them.
Network TV has a much different feeling than streaming. I expected a bigger buzz and numbers from those shows. And they weren’t as big, but the content was so good that I was like, “That’s okay!” Moving forward, I didn’t have any expectations. Just do your best work, and whatever the numbers are, they will be.
The numbers on this show blew me away. I was like, “Wait, 10 million per episode. What? That’s crazy!” So it’s been a great reception.
What initially attracted you to this project and the role of TJ?
When I first read it, I thought the premise was very well done: a doctor with a horrible bedside manner who loses her memory for eight years and then becomes essentially a whole new person. It caught me very quickly.
Getting a chance to play young TJ — being a first-year resident. That character was appealing because, on television, I’ve seen African-American doctors, and they typically are a bit older. There’s not a lot of younger ones just starting out.
I was talking to my girlfriend the other day. She said, “Oh no, there’s been doctors on TV.” I’m like, yeah, but they weren’t this young.
You’re watching somebody who was a combat medic and then went straight to the hospital. What he’s able to do at this time and this age is very fun to watch. And I wanted to be a part of something like that.
I always joke about how many doctors on this show risk their medical licenses every other episode, but TJ is very structured and disciplined and likes to walk the line. Is that something he got from his father?
Yes, that’s definitely something he got from his father, which made him even more structured when he was a combat medic, and then that transition right over into the hospital world. So I think we’ve seen him bend the rules a little, but he hasn’t broken anything too bad.
On Doc Season 1 Episode 4, when the military comes in, TJ presents his analysis of the patient, and there is no actual proof of it, but he gives a possibility. That possibility is enough for a lawsuit to come on the military.
So that one moment was like, Hey, it’s not fully like truth, but you got to get to it.
They’re so messy at the hospital, but I appreciate that he’s very mature and reasonable for the baby of the bunch. I love the flip of that.
Yes, I agree. I love that, too. I love that.
I also appreciate that. TJ is a very self-aware doctor. Like this season, he had those little moments when he would realize that maybe his black-and-white way of thinking wasn’t always the best. For him to be as youthful as he is, he seems more self-aware sometimes than the other characters.
Yeah, for sure. I agree.
He’s also been one of Amy’s most trusted allies. But in this episode, we must understand their history and where it stems from. Can you talk a bit about how that near-death experience with Amy changed the course of his life?
Yes. First, I think it is very heroic that a human being can save another human being’s life. That alone blows my mind that there are people in this world who can help you live longer when you’re sick or whatever.
That’s amazing. And in this episode watching, I feel like even as young TJ watching this woman, like watching like him, like young TJ being in that predicament, that position where he could have, he could have died. She saved his life.
So, watching somebody be there and be able to save his life and be inspired and motivated changed his life because he wanted to do that for other people.
He wanted to be that for others. He wanted to be the person who could, if there was an emergency on a plane that he could assist or something was going on anywhere near him; he wanted to be of service in that way, which then led him into the military and being a combat medic on the ground, being able to save the lives of his fellow brothers and sisters in arms.
With that, there was a little spark of inspiration with Amy saving his life. It made him who he is. And something that’s really interesting to me is that the audience doesn’t even know how many lives TJ saved on the battlefield before he got to a hospital, you know?
So, knowing what he’s been through and knowing that it all came from this scuba diving or something, him going scuba diving/ plan moment, and then this woman just being there to save his life, I think that really changed the course of his life.
Following up on that, TJ and Amy left things on a tense note.
An interesting scene was TJ appealing to his father, whom he always sought for advice and things, and begging him to trust his expertise and heed his word at this moment. But it didn’t work. Can we anticipate that tension moving forward in the remainder of the season between TJ and Amy and even TJ and his father.
Yes. After Doc Season 1 Episode 9, we’re put in a very harsh position because TJ, like you, just said, when pleading to his father, “Please listen to me. I am the guy now. I know the answers.”
I am a doctor to know that his father does not, did not listen to him and that his father does not trust him or trust his leadership. It makes TJ feel extremely underappreciated and undervalued that, like all the years of training, the person he’s talked to the most about it and even helped him get through these moments doesn’t trust him right now. And that affects him.
It makes him; it breaks him a bit.
And then knowing that the person who has inspired this journey, he’s been on, and why he’s here, like she helped match him at Westside, is the reason for this rift between him and his father, which is even more hurtful. It’s even more hurtful to know that, oh, these are two people who are very close to me, and neither one of them respects me.
It’s like neither one of them respects me. They don’t respect who I am or what I say.
And all those things culminate into a very, just not the best mindset for TJ moving past episode nine.
I’d love to know what the most challenging aspect of this role has been for you.
The most challenging part was that I was a bit self-conscious initially because I played characters of importance and dignity who were upstanding. But being a doctor was interesting for me because, number one, I grew up in the South. So the way that I speak and the way that I do things isn’t like the doctors that I’ve seen on TV.
My initial approach was, “Oh, I have to change how I talk. I have to speak like everyone else. I gotta be this.” And that really bothered me in the beginning before we started shooting.
And then I spoke to my aunt, my aunt Fetty. My Aunt Fetty is a doctor in Jacksonville, Florida, where I’m from. My younger sister is also going to school to be a doctor.
And they both are, they both are Southern Belles. They love on you. They care about you.
They have thick Southern accents, and that has nothing to do with how much they will save your life. So I thought about it, and I was like, just because on TV, everybody talks a certain way or sounds the same, I’m like, hey, all doctors don’t sound the same.
All doctors don’t talk the same. They are all different. And my aunt is a great example of that.
She is a strong Black woman. The procedure that TJ does in episode three is the floating the Swan procedure; my aunt has done the same procedure on a patient before. I got a chance to talk to her about it … she walked me through the procedure and talked about it.
I learned that my challenge was getting wrapped up in what it always seems like a doctor should look like. And I realized, “Oh no, doctors come in all shapes and sizes, all forms. The most important part is, can you do the job? Can you save the life?”
I love that you get to bring this personal touch to the series, and it inspires your approach to the role.
And final question: With a second season secured, what would you love to explore with your character in the future? Are there any dynamics you haven’t gotten to play that you’d love to play? We’ve seen you in scenes with Amy and maybe Jake.
Yeah, I am looking forward to having 22 episodes. It is very helpful because you have more episodes to focus on different characters and different things that they are doing.
I am interested in TJ’s outside life and who he is outside of the hospital. For the whole first season, every scene I did was in the hospital. I don’t believe I did any scenes outside of the hospital.
Yeah. I’m interested in seeing TJ outside of the hospital and what that looks like—what kind of car he drives, what his apartment looks like, and things like that. I know in Doc Season 1 Episode 7, we saw Sonya Maitra’s personal life. It was very sad, but Anya [Banerjee] killed that, she was so amazing.
She did!
But yeah, we saw her at home, in her bedroom, and at a restaurant. It would be cool for the audience to see TJ in different ways, even his love life. I know that that’s a big part of medical shows, getting a chance to see what a doctor’s real life looks like.
I’m also interested in his interactions with the other doctors. I didn’t get a chance to do as many scenes with Amirah Vann as I went through the first season, and Omar Metwally, Dr. Michael Hamda!
Yeah. I love them so much, too. That would be amazing.
I don’t know what the season two storyline is yet, but watching TJ be more mature and older, moving forward in time a little bit like most shows do, it’d be a good chance to see where he goes in his medical journey. I’m excited about becoming a more evolved TJ.
I’m excited about that, too. That’s one of the biggest reasons I’m super stoked about not only the renewal but also the number of episodes we get. We’ll get to dive even deeper into the secondary characters.
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We’ve edited this interview for length and clarity.
Over to you, Doc Fanatics.
What did you think about TJ’s arc? What are you hoping to see in the season finale? Did you enjoy the interview? Sound off below!
Doc returns Tuesday at 9/8c on FOX with a must-see season finale!
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