Providence is an American television drama series created by John Masius which revolves around Dr. Sydney Hansen, who leaves her glamorous job in Beverly Hills as a plastic surgeon for the rich, to return to her hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, and be with her family.
The series originally aired in the USA on NBC from 8 January, 1999 to 20 December, 2002. There are 96 episodes in five seasons.
Providence originally aired in South Africa on SABC3, on Sundays at 19h00. It currently airs in South Africa on DStv's Sony Entertainment (SET) channel.
A rebroadcast of Season 3 premiered on SET on Thursday 24 April 2008, at 17h20. New episodes air Mondays to Fridays. There are 22 episodes in the third season.
Synopsis
Dr. Sydney Hansen, a top plastic surgeon from Beverly Hills, returns to her hometown Providence in Rhode Island for her sister's wedding but tragedy strikes when their mother Lynda dies before the ceremony starts.
As a result of the tragedy Syd's sister, Joanie, decides not to get married and ends up a single mother to her daughter, Hannah.
For the rest of the series their mother Lynda appears to Sydney as a chain-smoking ghost, offering her advice (mostly unsolicited) along the way.
Syd returns to Beverly Hills, only to discover her boyfriend in the shower with another man. She does an about-turn and leaves her job, her boyfriend and her life to return home to Providence to help out her family.
Sydney takes a job at a local free clinic headed by her friend Dr. Helen Reynolds, which she would later end up running herself.
While struggling with her new speciality of family medicine and helping her family, she also tries to rebuild her love life, without much luck
She also has to deal with her father Dr. Jim Hansen, a veterinarian who relates better to animals than people and who runs his practice from their basement; her younger sister Joanie, an optimistic single mother; and her troubled younger brother Robbie.