Recommended: This Is Going to Hurt on AMC+ and Sundance Now
What's This Is Going to Hurt About?
The overworked staff in the obstetrics ward of a London public hospital try to keep both their patients and their personal lives from flatlining.
Who's involved?
Why (and to whom) do we recommend it?
This may seem like a strange thing to say about a miniseries that features traumatic pregnancies, close-ups of babies being born by C-section, and an awful lot of visible blood, but for a certain type of drama fan, This Is Going to Hurt will be a welcome relief.
That's because the show is pitched as the story of regular people who happen to have challenging lives. There are no soapy Grey's Anatomy-level theatrics, but there are plenty of engrossing stories about small, meaningful decisions that reverberate across multiple episodes. Likewise, there are no Nurse Jackie-style black comedy hijinks, but there are dark wisecracks in almost every scene that get these people through their endless days. (A particular favorite: When a testy patient says nobody will miss her if she dies, Adam retorts, "Oh, I don't know. The lion and the wardrobe would probably miss you."
Plus, the action takes place in 2006, so there aren't even any period costumes or vintage medical procedures to create a sense of allure. The show simply trusts that its slice of life is interesting enough to keep us interested, and it's absolutely correct. It helps that Whishaw, who is so effortlessly charismatic in everything from London Spy to the Paddington movies, is at the center of things as his character tries to be a better doctor, boyfriend, friend, son, and person, in roughly that order. It also matters that Kay writes from his own experience, which surely contributes to the pile-up of details that make the show's characters so instantly knowable and their hospital world so believable.
Pairs well with
TOPICS: This Is Going to Hurt, AMC+, Sundance Now, Adam Kay, Alex Jennings, Ambika Mod, Ben Whishaw, Harriet Walter, Lucy Forbes, Michele Austin, Rory Fleck Byrne, Tom Kingsley