BBC2 orders comedy drama based on doctor’s diaries

BBC 2 has commissioned an eight-part comedy drama based on This Is Going To Hurt, the best-seller from former junior doctor Adam Kay. The show is being produced by scripted specialist Sister Pictures, which picked up the rights to the book in autumn 2017.

This is Going to Hurt is described as “a blisteringly funny, politically enraging and frequently heart-breaking wake-up call to anyone who values the NHS”. It is based on Kay’s diaries, which were scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, and sets out to tell the unvarnished truth of life as a junior doctor.

Commenting Kay said: “Junior doctors tend to have a rather quiet voice compared to the politicians, which is understandable – you don’t have much spare time if you’re working 100 hour weeks. It’s been a huge privilege to have my diaries reach so many readers and it’s been absolutely humbling to see their reaction. I’m beyond delighted to now be able to share my story with a far wider audience and make the viewers of BBC Two laugh, cry and vomit.”

Piers Wenger, controller of BBC Drama, added: “The laugh out loud tone of Adam’s memoir masks a frank, insightful and visceral portrait of a young professional struggling to do the job of his dreams. It is a deeply personal but definitive account of the 21st Century NHS.”

Patrick Holland, controller of BBC Two, said: “This is Going to Hurt leaps off the page with its candour, coruscating wit, intelligence and timeliness. This new series promises scintillating writing about a subject that is at the centre of national life. I am so delighted Adam and Sister Pictures have brought this to BBC Two.”