News

‘Dr. Death’ Showrunner Patrick Macmanus on Adapting the Terrifying True Story

Published

5 years ago

July 15, 2021

Dr. Death, based on the popular podcast and the terrifying true story, drops on Peacock today.

The series follows the career of Dr. Christopher Duntsch (Joshua Jackson), a surgeon working in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas who permanently maimed or caused the death of 33 out of 38 patients on whom he operated. Yet, it was only after two fellow surgeons (Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater) began to question his credentials and methods that hospitals and an assistant district attorney (AnnaSophia Robb) took notice of what was happening.

It’s a story that is undeniably complicated which is one of the things that drew showrunner Patrick Macmanus to the material when the podcast was sent to him with the question of a screen adaptation attached.

**There are some light spoilers beyond this point. If you are unfamiliar with the case of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, be aware.**

“I found the story compelling, and I also found the characters compelling,” he said as he sat down to chat with iHorror about the show. “So I threw my hat in the ring. I put together, very briefly, the overall idea of the show. I’m talking three quarters of a page where I talked about dual timelines and how the dual timelines will meet in episode seven and basically a very bare bones structure and pitched what I found most compelling. And they gave me the gig. It’s just been an extraordinary experience. I couldn’t be happier with he cast and the crew and the writers who save my ass everyday in the writer’s room.”

In exploring the complexity of Dr. Christopher Duntsch, Macmanus knew early on that this was not someone that could easily be placed in a box. Nor was he was he a person you could simply put a black hat on and stand them under a flashing neon “Villain” sign.

Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater, and AnnaSophia Robb all give brilliant performances in Dr. Death

For starters, while the things he did in the operating room were unfailingly horrific, he was also a highly capable, groundbreaking researcher who holds several patents still used in the medical field. Duntsch’s situation, as Macmanus pointed out to me, was really a perfect storm.

He was enabled to do the things he did by a flawed healthcare system that allowed him to continue operating time and time again despite the objections of nurses, fellow surgeons, and the horrible outcomes of his surgeries. The showrunner believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that Duntsch deserves to be in prison, but again, there’s just so much more to the story.

“I think it’s very easy to call him a psychopath because we can explain that away, but the truth is that he is far more complex,” the showrunner explained. “I believe that he was a narcissistic sociopath. Maybe there are people who are professionals who would disagree with me, and you should absolutely listen to them. I think that you’re born that way. There is something in your makeup that makes you a narcissistic sociopath and then it’s nurtured by those around you. I think that system saw in him a promise. He was intelligent. He was driven. He was charming. They could take advantage of all the positives and in doing so, they fanned the flames of his ego which became this huge conflagration. He began to buy into his own press.”

Macmanus does not believe that the hospital administrators were intentionally trying to encourage the doctor’s delusions. He does believe, however, that this is one of those examples of everything that can go wrong actually going wrong. The healthcare system failed Duntsch’s patients, but in a way, they also failed the doctor himself.

Still, while bringing Dr. Death and this story to life, it was important to balance how they told the story. For that, they went back into research and interviews, combing through patient statements, etc. to find the story underneath.

In all of that, one of the things that fascinated him most came as they were preparing the finale, discussing how both the prosecution and the defense approached the case.

“The prosecution was arguing one side of the case which was this guy [Duntsch] did it on purpose,” he said. “He had a track record of injuring people. He should have known better. It was all on him. The defense’s perspective was: No, no, no, look at where he came from and why didn’t anyone stop him? What makes the finale compelling is that we were able to delineate all of that in one courtroom. That became a tool where we knew were going to be able to do something interesting.”

It was during this research for Dr. Death that Macmanus and the writers began to come across a recurring anecdote from witnesses in the courtroom. People who didn’t speak to one another, who never communicated recalled a singular moment in the trial when Duntsch seemed to understand that perhaps he had done something wrong after all. It wasn’t in what he said, but how he acted: the look on his face, the change in his demeanor.

Culpability sat on the shoulders of Duntsch, perhaps for the first time in his life, and they saw it happen. So, Macmanus and Jackson spent a great deal of time talking about how they could show that in the series.

Side by Side: Joshua Jackson and Christopher Duntsch aka Dr. Death

“This is a character study,” Macmanus said. “It’s a study of the mind of this man that we’ll never fully understand and that we shouldn’t try to explain. Evil is often impossible to explain. So that was something that Josh and I discussed a lot. He was never going to stand up and say anything. But you needed to see it. You needed to see that moment where he finally began to understand.”

Sadly, Macmanus says, he believes that this could happen again, and honestly, after seeing Dr. Death and reading more about the case, we have to agree.

That’s why Macmanus and his production company have worked over the last twelve months to create a social action campaign designed to bring attention to medical harm in the United States and the flaws within the healthcare system itself.

“It’s meant to bring attention to medical harm in the United States to try to give patients the tools that they need in order to research their doctors and their hospitals,” the showrunner said. “And to give audiences and patients the tools that they need to take on the political system and to insure that the laws that are being passed are there to protect the patients first and foremost. I want audiences to know that this has happened before and it can happen again and they should know how to protect themselves and their loved ones.”

At the same time, Macmanus had this to say:

“I also want audiences to know that ultimately they can trust the medical community. I found it interesting that we were filming this during the pandemic when it seemed that for the first time everybody saw their doctors and medical practitioners as heroes and lauded them as such. I believe that these people were heroes before the pandemic. They will be heroes after the pandemic. There are far more Hendersons and Kirbys and Shugharts and Josh Bakers than there are Duntsch’s out there. We need to continue to hold these people up while acknowledging that there are flaws in every system. Everyone deserves good quality healthcare.”

For more information on this social action campaign CLICK HERE.

All eight episodes of Dr. Death dropped on the Peacock streaming service today! Check out this incredible story, and tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

You must be logged in to post a comment.

News

This Week in Horror: The ‘Resident Evil’ Trailer, a ‘Weapons’ Prequel, and Nicolas Cage Has Unfinished Business

Published

3 days ago

May 1, 2026

Luna Gray

This was the week Zach Cregger stopped being a horror director and started being a horror studio. That is not the only thing that happened, but it feels like it isn’t being stated enough.

The Resident Evil Teaser Is Here

The first footage from Zach Cregger‘s Resident Evil dropped Wednesday, and it does not look like anything this franchise has produced before. Austin Abrams plays Bryan, a medical courier who arrives at an empty house in the middle of a snowy night and spends the rest of the teaser discovering what he is actually surrounded by.

The footage is dark and still and operates as if something has already gone wrong before anything technically has, which is the same register Barbarian and Weapons lived in and that the games, at their best, have always understood.

Cregger Is Also Making a Weapons Prequel

While everyone was watching the Resident Evil teaser, Variety reported that Gladys, the prequel to Weapons, is moving forward at Warner Bros. with Cregger co-writing alongside Zach Shields. Weapons grossed $270 million worldwide and earned Amy Madigan a best supporting actress Oscar.

Gladys is set for September 2028. Cregger is currently writing a Resident Evil reboot and a Weapons prequel at the same time, which is either the most productive stretch a horror director has had in recent memory or the setup for a very good documentary.

Nicolas Cage Has Unfinished Business

Variety confirmed that Nicolas Cage and Osgood Perkins are making a new Longlegs film at Paramount. Not a sequel, but something set in the Longlegs universe, which is a distinction that raises more questions than it answers and is therefore exactly the right way to announce it. The original made $128 million on a $10 million budget. No release date has been set.

Hokum Opens Today

Hokum, the new film from Damian McCarthy, is in theaters today via Neon. Adam Scott plays a novelist who retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes and finds that an ancient witch has opinions about that.

The film premiered at SXSW in March and sits at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. McCarthy made Caveat in 2020, which was underseen and excellent. Hokum is his argument that the haunted house film still has architecture left to explore.

Shudder Is Having a Moment

The full May lineup breakdown is here, but the essentials are: Tales from the Crypt, all seven seasons, begins streaming today after years off the market. The Terror: Devil in Silver, the third installment of AMC’s horror anthology series, premieres May 7 with Dan Stevens. Heresy, a folk horror set in a medieval Dutch village, also drops today as a Shudder exclusive. It is the strongest programming month they have announced in a while, and May is only one day old. What a week.

Someone Let Ti West Near a Christmas Carol

Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, written by Nathaniel Halpern, directed by Ti West, and starring Johnny Depp as Scrooge, has a release date: November 13, 2026 from Paramount. Robert Eggers is also developing a Christmas Carol adaptation. Two of the most formally precise horror directors working today have independently decided this is the assignment. There is no version of that sentence that is not exciting.

That is the week. May is already delivering.

Editorial

HHN35, Jack vs Oddfellow: Place Your Bets!

Published

3 days ago

May 1, 2026

Piper St. James

Halloween Horror Nights is back for its 35th installment at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida as the Infernal Carnival of Nightmares!

Over the years HHN has proven original houses draw as much of a crowd, if not more, as the intellectual property (IP) houses based off of established horror movies.

Leading each year of fear and headlining some of these original houses includes some of the most beloved and iconic characters. These icons include; Jack the Clown, The Caretaker, The Director, Chance, Dr. Oddfellow, The Usher, Lady Luck, and The Storyteller.

This year Orlando’s convention MegaCon had a highly anticipated and attended panel focused on Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights 35. The masterminds speaking of the 35th year celebration included Michael Aiello, Lora Sauls, and Charles Gray. The creators teased the landmark year to salivating fans.

Gaged by the audience’s reaction as each icon was reminisced about and displayed on the panel’s screen were Jack and Oddfellow. Here it was announced to the fanatical audience that these two icons will be returning to lead Halloween Horror Nights into its upcoming year!

Bring in the Clown!

Jack the Clown, born Jack Schmidt, is an icon created by Universal Studios for Halloween Horror Nights. Jack made his debut during the Halloween event’s tenth year in 2000. He immediately won over attendees and became a fan favorite. His popularity grew so much that he has reappeared again and again in many of the Halloween Horror Nights events.

Jack has been featured in three of the five Universal parks that have hosted HHN; Orlando, Hollywood, and Singapore. He has even claimed a spot in Universal Horror Unleashed.

Unleashed is a haunted attraction residing in Las Vegas that offers a fully immersive experience for guests. Unlike Halloween Horror Nights, this attraction is open year round! Universal Horror Unleashed features haunted houses, live entertainment, and themed bars and dining.

Jack and Chance at Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas.

Here Jack stalks guests year round with his mistress in mayhem, Chance.

Jack’s History

In the late 1800s Jack was born with his brother Eddie inside the walls of Shady Brook Rest Home and Sanitarium. Jack escaped and ran away with the circus, leaving his poor and abusive family behind.

However, it was soon apparent he was not the jolly, entertaining clown he convinced his carnival spectators of.

Jack was a child murderer. As the traveling sideshow made its way through the southern states, a trail of abductions and disappearances followed. This attracted unwanted attention from federal authorities.

As the feds closed in, the clown disclosed his murderous ways to his employer, carnival owner Dr. Oddfellow. As the star attraction of the circus he hoped Oddfellow would hide him. However, the doctor was a man with his own sordid past with the law. He decided the best plan of action would be to cut ties with Jack, for good.

The circus owner had Jack Schmidt murdered, but not before the clown gave Oddfellow his trademark facial scar. A scar none of Oddfellow’s dark magic could erase.

Always the showman, Oddfellow decided Jack’s time in his show had not yet come to an end. Not even in death. The carnival owner hid Jack’s body, in addition to the thirteen children the clown had killed, inside his House of Horrors.

The Doctor is In!

Just like Jack “The Clown” Schmidt, Dr. Rich Oddfellow has a very long and evil history. He was introduced to Halloween Horror Nights in 2000, the same year as Jack. However, unlike the menacing clown, the doctor did not rise to instant fame.

Finally the Doctor found his time in the fog and in 2023 he was established as an icon of HHN.

Oddfellow’s History

Dr. Oddfellow is the notorious, darkly charismatic sideshow owner of Dr. Oddfellow’s Carnival of Thrills. He employed Jack Schmidt, the murderous clown who claimed the lives of at least 13 children. However, the clown was not the only member of the circus who had evil intentions.

Oddfellow was an evil sorcerer, and preyed upon his unsuspecting spectators from town to town. Using the souls of his victims, Oddfellow hoped to gain immortality as well as harness the power of the Dark Zodiac for himself. With this power he would have undying power at his fingertips all harnessed in the skull sitting on top of his trademark cane.

Dr. Oddfellow always left his mark of chaos, destruction and death. From the Jungle of Doom, to the 1939 Dustbowl, and an infamous 1969 Music Festival in upstate New York, Oddfellow reigned down his evil upon the innocent.

A Glimpse of HHN35

Not much has been revealed about how these icons of horror will be intertwined in the upcoming Halloween Horror Nights. However, we do know that despite how much these two despise each other, they will be sharing the spotlight as co-hosts for the much anticipated HHN35.

One of the ten haunted houses will feature the returning duo together. The house is called; Jack and Oddfellow: Chaos and Control.

As you travel through the house the stories of each icon of horror will be unraveled. You’ll wind your way through their evil dimension and see the two battle each other in a deathmatch that has been brewing for decades. However, as you near the end of the house Jack and Oddfellow come to realize that their power is much stronger together than separate. Will the souls of the guests be the fuel to their ultimate evil plan?

Tell us at iHorror who your favorite icon of horror is in the comments! If the two were to face off, who would win?

News

The Severance Writer Found a New Building to Lock People In

Published

3 days ago

May 1, 2026

Luna Gray

Aiyana K. White spent two seasons on Severance working out what happens when a building decides it is done letting people go. Her next project is set in a high school during a zombie outbreak. The architecture is different, but the logic is basically the same. Welcome to ShootAround.

Lion Forge Entertainment and WEBTOON Productions are teaming up for a live-action YA film adaptation of Shoot Around, the zombie horror-comedy webcomic by Suspu (Susanna Nousiainen) with 28 million views on WEBTOON. White, who also served as executive story editor on The Night Agent for Netflix and got her start on Showtime’s Superpumped, is writing the screenplay.

The Premise

When the zombie apocalypse hits Penny Hall High, the state’s best girls’ basketball team is forced to join forces with the boys they cannot stand for 24 hours locked inside their school. You dont even need the zombies, that sounds miserable.

The official description is Zombieland meets Bring It On, which is either the most accurate logline of the year or an extremely specific promise to have to keep. Lets hope ther PR team knew what they were doing when they through that one out there.

The Source Material

The ShootAround webcomic ran 70 chapters across its first season. White has said she devoured all of them in one sitting, which is a better endorsement than anything the studio put in the press release.

Creator Suspu has a decade of comics experience, including WEBTOON Originals Heir’s Game, The Tattletale Fool, and Bad Plan Man. The fanbase already exists, now they just have to know how to use it.

White is rewriting the script from an earlier draft by Mike Dow and Devon Kelly.

The Production

Lion Forge Entertainment, the Oscar-winning studio behind Hair Love, is producing and financing alongside WEBTOON Productions. Founder David Steward II and president Stephanie Sperber are producing for Lion Forge. President David Madden and head of global film Jason Goldberg will executive produce for WEBTOON Productions.