We the viewers who have found refuge in webseries and TV shows to escape the unprecedented sense of isolation and boredom endured during the pandemic, can devour anything we can get our hands on. The desire to watch shows which depict the realities of essential workers during Covid 19 has made BBC One to release another show called “This Is Going To Hurt”. A series called “The Responder”, starring Martin Freeman and screenplay written by Tony Schumacher, based on the autobiographical account of working late night shift in London metropolitan police, had just completed when BBC One released all episodes of writer Adam Kay’s memoir which is about what it felt like when he worked almost 90 hour shift per week as a junior doctor in the UK’s prominent National Health Service.
The first scene of This Is Going To Hurt defines the essence of the show. The protagonist played by Ben Whishaw abruptly wakes up in his car, serving as the registrar of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology ward of a hospital, rushes to work and stumbles upon a pregnant woman whose water broke and is about to give birth. He somehow manages to get her to the ward on time and completes the whole procedure covered in blood and later receives a scolding from his boss while standing naked in the washroom. The scene is funny, dramatic and an appropriate depiction of the chaotic NHS. Adapted from the autobiographical account titled “This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor”, the show portrays the life of the protagonist who is trying to balance between an exhausting job and his personal life. Directed by Lucy Forbes, who also created The End of The Fucking World, have done good job documenting the unpredictable chaos in Adam Kay’s character with him slumping in his car seat, dozing off and bloody scrubs being thrown in the garbage again and again.
Writer Adam Kay’s diary entries has been transformed into a comedy drama with a message to the NHS which is overworked and the character development of a man in a precarious position trying to maintain composure while removing unknown objects from women’s vaginas and saving lives. The show has other great characters as well such as Tracy, played by Michele Austin, who is just like Adam, student doctor Shurti who has just joined the hospital, played by Ambika Mod and Harry who happened to be the protagonist’s boyfriend. Harry wants Adam to talk about his feelings and come out of the closet to his parents whom he hasn’t told yet that he is gay. This medical drama will not bore you as it has that quality to balance humour and seriousness which reflect the lives of those sleep-deprived hard working men and women in healthcare field who have to be ready everyday to accept the unimaginable.