This Is Going To Hurt: Ben Whishaw to star in new BBC Two series

Ben Whishaw is to star in new BBC Two series This Is Going To Hurt.

Based on Adam Kay’s award-winning international multi-million selling memoir of the same name, Ben Whishaw will play the screen version of Adam in the series which has been adapted by creator Kay himself.

Kay’s diaries, scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, tell the unvarnished truth of life as a doctor working in obstetrics and gynaecology.

The BBC share: “Whishaw is set to play the fictional version of Adam, who we find wending his way through the ranks of hospital hierarchy – junior enough to suffer the crippling hours, but senior enough to face a constant barrage of terrifying responsibilities.

“The series sees Adam clinging to his personal life as he is increasingly overwhelmed by stresses at work: the 97-hour weeks, the life and death decisions, and all the while knowing the hospital parking meter is earning more than him.

“This Is Going To Hurt is a show about trying to be a good doctor in a system which can sometimes feel like it’s working against you. Like the book, the series will depict life on and off the hospital ward with frank and often shocking honesty.

“The series rejoices in the highs, while pulling no punches in its depiction of the gut-wrenching lows, and celebrates the everyday superstars of the health service who keep our hospitals running.”

Ben Whishaw said: “I am proud to join this exciting adaptation of Adam Kay’s terrific book This Is Going To Hurt based on his experiences working in the NHS. It’s an honest, hilarious, heart-breaking look at the great institution and the army of unsung heroes who work there under the most stressful conditions.

“The current crisis has now shed even more light on their great work and underlines the necessity to support the NHS and its workers. I look forward to telling this story with director Lucy Forbes and the great team at Sister to bring Adam’s words to life and I am really grateful to be a part of it.”

Creator and writer, Adam Kay commented: “Ben is quite simply one of the finest actors our country has ever produced and a bona fide national treasure. There’s simply no one who could do a better job of playing (a much more handsome version of) me.

“Best still, I now have an answer to the standard dinner party question: ‘Who would play you in the story of your life?’”

This Is Going To Hurt will air on BBC Two in the UK.