Do we like them?

Do we like Dr. Gregory House?

A character from House (2004–2012)

Our score: 5 out of 10. He'll save your life and insult you while doing it. Brilliant and often right, but cruel, reckless and self-destructive, so we back him with our arms crossed.

House is the head of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. He takes on baffling medical mysteries with a small team of younger doctors. He is openly sarcastic, avoids patients where he can, and manages chronic leg pain with Vicodin. The show is built like a detective story, and House is loosely modelled on Sherlock Holmes.

His method is to question everything, assume that everyone lies, and push his team to test theories that are often ethically dubious. He cares more about being right than being liked. That leads to clashes with his boss, Dr. Cuddy, and with his few friends, especially Dr. Wilson, who keeps trying to look after him.

We score him a 5. The good he does is real and measurable, and he has a stubborn honesty. But he treats the people around him badly, and his addiction and recklessness cause damage that no amount of cleverness makes up for.