‘This Is Going to Hurt’: Ben Whishaw Anchors a Brutally Honest NHS Drama

Adam Kay’s memoir This Is Going to Hurt was always going to be a hard sell on screen. The book is a collection of diaries, written by a junior doctor working in obstetrics and gynaecology, that turned into a bestseller because it spoke plainly about exhaustion, grief, and the absurdity of modern medicine. Turning that into a seven-part TV series asks a lot. It asks for comedy, drama, and honesty all at once, and it asks for them to land together. Mostly, it succeeds.

The show follows Adam Kay (Ben Whishaw) and Shruti Acharya (Ambika Mod) as they work through the ranks of a busy NHS ward in London. It is set in 2006, and it leans hard into the era’s particular anxieties: the lack of support for junior doctors, the way their achievements go unsung, and the sheer grind of a system that never slows down. It is not a light watch, and it knows it. The tone shifts between laugh-out-loud jokes and quiet, crushing despair within minutes. That instability is the point.

Trailer, via BBC.

Whishaw and Mod Carry the Ward

Whishaw is the lead, and he anchors the show. His Adam is exhausted, sarcastic, and deeply committed. He breaks the fourth wall regularly, talking directly to the audience in a way that feels less like narration and more like a friend explaining why they’re still standing. Mod’s Shruti is his counterpart, a junior doctor who is newer to the system and therefore more naive. Her naivety is not a weakness; it is a lens through which we see how broken the system really is. Their friendship drives the show forward, and their scenes together are often the sharpest moments.

The supporting cast is full of familiar faces. Alex Jennings plays Lockhart, the boss who is more concerned with appearances than with patient care. Michele Austin plays Tracy, the midwife who is sharp-witted and practical. Rory Fleck-Byrne plays Harry, Kay’s boyfriend, who shows up rarely but grounds the show in something human. Kadiff Kirwan plays Julian, Kay’s rival colleague, and Tom Durant-Pritchard plays Greg, Kay’s best friend. The show moves between these characters with ease, and the ensemble holds together across all seven episodes.

The Fourth Wall Keeps Breaking

One of the show’s boldest choices is its willingness to break the fourth wall. Kay speaks directly to the camera throughout, offering commentary on what is happening, explaining things that other characters can’t know, and occasionally interrupting the action to make a point. This technique could easily feel gimmicky, but it doesn’t. It keeps the show grounded in reality while allowing for a kind of meta-commentary that feels earned rather than forced. The show is about doctors telling patients the truth, and it extends that idea to the audience itself.

The show also uses the fourth wall to comment on its own medium. In one scene, Kay addresses the camera and explains that the show is a fiction, but that everything it depicts is rooted in real experiences. It is a clever trick, and it reminds the viewer that this is a dramatization of real pain. The effect is not to distance the viewer but to make the experience more immediate.

Comedy and Drama Share the Screen

The show is marketed as a comedy-drama, and that label is accurate, but it undersells the complexity. There are scenes that are genuinely funny, and there are scenes that are genuinely sad. The show trusts its audience to move between those modes without losing momentum. It is rare for a show to handle both tones with equal skill, and This Is Going to Hurt manages it consistently.

The comedy comes from Kay’s observations about the absurdities of hospital life. There are jokes about paperwork, about the way doctors talk to each other, and about the sheer incompetence of some of the systems they work within. The drama comes from the personal stakes. Kay loses friends, struggles with his relationship, and watches colleagues burn out. The show never lets the comedy undercut the seriousness, and it never lets the drama become too heavy. The balance is delicate, and it mostly holds.

The Ensemble Cast Holds Together

The show is a miniseries, and it benefits from that structure. Seven episodes are enough to establish a world, develop characters, and resolve arcs without stretching the material too thin. The show wastes no time getting to the point. Within the first few episodes, we know who everyone is, what they want, and what the central conflict is. That efficiency is a strength.

The show also takes risks with its pacing. Some episodes are slower than others, and some episodes are faster. The show trusts the audience to sit with uncomfortable silences, and it rewards that trust. The quieter moments are often the most effective. The show is not afraid to let a scene breathe, and that patience pays off.

The Book’s Legacy Shapes the Show

The show is adapted from Kay’s memoir, and it carries that legacy with it. Kay’s writing was honest in a way that felt new at the time, and the show tries to capture that honesty. It is not a hagiography of the NHS. It is not a celebration of the medical profession. It is a portrait of people doing difficult work in a difficult system, and it does not flinch from the ugliness of that work. The show is frank about the physical and emotional toll of being a doctor, and it is frank about the failures of the institutions they serve.

The show also captures the specificity of its setting. The ward is busy, chaotic, and frequently understaffed. The show does not romanticize the work. It shows the boredom, the tedium, and the occasional moments of genuine connection. The result is a show that feels lived-in, even when it is at its darkest.

A Final Word on the Performance

The show is not perfect. There are moments where the comedy lands flat, and there are moments where the drama feels overwrought. The show is also limited by its source material. As a dramatization of a memoir, it can only go so far beyond the original text. But the show is consistently good, and it is often great. The performances are uniformly strong, the writing is sharp, and the direction is confident.

The show is a reminder that the NHS is not a monolith. It is a system made up of individuals, each with their own fears, ambitions, and limits. The show honors that individuality without losing sight of the larger picture. It is a show about people, and it treats them with dignity.

The show premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 8 February 2022, and it began airing on AMC+ in the United States on 2 June 2022. It ran for seven episodes, and it ended on 22 March 2022. The show was co-produced by the BBC and AMC, and it was created by Adam Kay himself. It is a show about the cost of caring, and it does not look away.

The show is a worthy adaptation of a beloved memoir, and it stands on its own. It is a show about doctors, but it is not a show about doctors. It is a show about people who work hard, make mistakes, and keep going anyway. It is a show about the cost of caring, and it does not look away.

AMC · BBC · British drama · memoir adaptation · TV Review