‘The Good Doctor’ Creator Explains How Dr. Murphy’s Autism Will Be Handled

“The Good Doctor” Season 1 will center on Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore), a young surgeon who suffers from autism.

While at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, series creator David Shore explained how he and his team plan to handle the lead character’s autism in the upcoming episodes. “There’s going to be people who think he doesn’t belong there for a while. He’s going to have to prove himself,” he said.

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In the series, which is a remake of a Korean drama of the same title, Dr. Murphy’s colleagues will be worried about his inability to communicate properly. Since he will be working in the medical field, they are concerned that his lack of communication skills could impinge on his work as a surgeon. But Shore is positive that the character will be a catalyst for change among the other doctors. “His different way of looking at the world will, I think inspire him,” he said.

Prior to writing the episodes of “The Good Doctor,” Shore and his team of writers first did a great deal of research about autism. “We saw a lot of documentaries. We consulted with people. We have people on the spectrum who we’re working with,” he said. However, the series creator also stressed the fact that Dr. Murphy is a very specific character, and he wasn’t created to represent autism in general.

“It would be impossible… and somewhat rude to say that this character will represent all autistic people. Hopefully, he will speak to everyone with differences… he’s not solely defined by autism,” Highmore explained.

Meanwhile, Shore stressed the fact that Dr. Murphy’s main limitation as someone with autism is his communication skills. Even though some people with the illness suffer from poor motor skills, this is something that the doctor is very good at. “He can be right and fail at communicating the information, which is crucial. There will be consequences for him not following protocol,” he said.

Shore also clarified that Dr. Murphy will be very different, but will also share similarities with Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a character that he created for FOX. “The characters ultimately couldn’t be more different. Yet they’re, in a way, asking many of the same questions,” he said.

“The Good Doctor” Season 1 will premiere on ABC on Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. EST.