Critic Reviews

Mixing tragedy and comedy to stunningly powerful effect, former doctor Adam Kay turns his own experiences into the stuff of TV gold while showing us the stark reality of a routinely under-funded, over-stretched NHS.

Adam’s wit makes the migration from book to screen perfectly. Even his sarcastic asides make the cut, in the form of addressing the audience, Fleabag-style.

One of the best of the year so far. ... Kay’s irreverence means he builds a more detailed and believable world than other medical dramas.

A fast-paced emotional rollercoaster, This Is Going to Hurt is hands-down one of the best dramas we'll see in 2022 and with the show hitting home just how much pressure the NHS is under right now, the adaptation couldn't come at a better time.

The BBC adaptation is excellent and Whishaw is a joy to watch.

I’m glad I saw it, for its riveting story, for its stellar performances, and for delivering the honesty that Adam is holding inside himself. Like some of the best of TV, it shows how institutions and the complex problems embedded in them can rob even the best among us of our souls.

One of the best medical dramas to hit the small screen in years. It’s an emotionally complex and uneasily hilarious examination of the U.K.’s National Health Service and a prickly character study played with a rich disinterest in likability by Ben Whishaw.

This is a mixture of both [Grey's Anatomy & Scrubs], and is filmed with a lot of style and creativity. But it also accomplishes something that those series do not: it actually feels real. ... The show is also not only bleak. In fact, it’s incredibly funny. Whishaw's natural dry wit punctuates every encounter. ... It’s a really special show.

Bitingly funny, searingly sad, and fully educational—how can you beat that combination? If you’re like me, you’ll blaze through the seven episodes and find yourself wishing for more. Perhaps what we should wish for, instead, is that this series serves as a blueprint. If you want to entertain, raise awareness, and create a piece of lasting art while you’re there, look no further: this is how it’s done.

The talent of Ben Whishaw shines on its highest beams in this mesmerizing medical series about Adam Kay, who left his career as a junior doctor in obstetrics and gynecology at a London hospital to fictionalize his life into a comedy of shocking gravity. You’ll laugh till it hurts.