With a cast featuring the likes of Dame Harriet Walter, Ambika Mod and Alex Jennings, This Is Going to Hurt is adapted from Adam Kay\u2019s best-selling book of the same name \u2013 a collection of diary entries written by Kay during his time as a junior doctor from 2004 until 2010.<\/p>\n
But is the actual series based on a true story and how much of the book features in the seven-part comedy-drama?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s everything you need to know about whether This is Going to Hurt is based on a true story \u2013 be aware there are spoilers for the full series<\/strong> below.<\/p> This Is Going to Hurt is a loose adaptation of Adam Kay\u2019s autobiographical book of the same name.<\/p>\n While Adam Kay was a junior doctor and many of the stories that feature in the show are true, some plot lines are embellished versions of entries from the book.<\/p>\n For example, in one episode, Adam is called to remove an object from a woman\u2019s vagina which turns out to be a ring \u2013 she had been planning on proposing to her boyfriend by asking him to fish it out. This short plot line is based on an entry from This Is Going to Hurt.<\/p>\n There is an entry in the book where Adam finds red stickers all over a patient\u2019s file, which indicates that they could be a victim of domestic abuse, only to realise that the patient\u2019s toddler had actually just gotten a hold of the stickers \u2013 however, the series develops this storyline further in episode 3 by having Shruti become suspicious of the patient\u2019s partner.<\/p>\n Speaking about the BBC adaptation, Adam Kay said: \u201cThe nature of the book \u2013 hundreds of diary entries in a single person\u2019s voice \u2013 meant that a totally direct adaptation would have been something of a one-man sketch show.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe TV series expands the world, predominantly in terms of the other characters we meet: from Adam\u2019s family and boyfriend, to his midwife colleagues and other doctors,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m sure people who have read the book will recognise lots of the scenes and hopefully feel that it\u2019s still as funny, sad and of course repulsive as they remember.\u201d<\/p>\n Other plot lines in the show that are based on Kay\u2019s book entries include a patient\u2019s husband thinking their baby had no face, the sewing of the dolphin tattoo, Adam\u2019s degloving story and the patient wanting to eat her placenta.<\/p>\n While the character of Adam is very clearly based on the author Adam Kay, many of the characters in the series do not appear in the book.<\/p>\n For example, while a number of nameless Senior House Officers feature in the book, it seems Shruti (Ambika Mod) is a character that Kay has created for the show \u2013 as are Tracy (Michele Austin), Ms Houghton (Ashley McGuire), Mr Lockhart (Alex Jennings) and Greg (Tom Durant-Pritchard).<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely that Harry (Rory Fleck Byrne), Adam\u2019s boyfriend, is based on Kay\u2019s partner who he refers to as \u2018H\u2019 throughout the book, while Adam\u2019s mother Veronique (Dame Harriet Walter) is based on Kay\u2019s mother \u2013 although Walter has revealed that the character does not bear many similarities to his real-life mother.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m assured she\u2019s not really like his real mother,\u201d Walter said. \u201cSo apologies to his real mother if anyone believes that I am playing her.\u201d<\/p>\n This is Going to Hurt airs on Tuesdays at 9pm on BBC One, and all episodes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer. While you\u2019re waiting visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a> to see what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 08 February 2022 at 12:00 am Brand new comedy-drama This Is Going to Hurt made its BBC One debut tonight, with Ben Whishaw starring as a junior doctor trying to balance his relentless job with his crumbling personal life. With a cast featuring the likes of Dame Harriet Walter, Ambika […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":10960,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/02\/is-this-is-going-to-hurt-based-on-a-true-story.png",617,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/02\/is-this-is-going-to-hurt-based-on-a-true-story-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/02\/is-this-is-going-to-hurt-based-on-a-true-story-300x201.png",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/02\/is-this-is-going-to-hurt-based-on-a-true-story.png",617,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/02\/is-this-is-going-to-hurt-based-on-a-true-story.png",617,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/02\/is-this-is-going-to-hurt-based-on-a-true-story.png",617,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/02\/is-this-is-going-to-hurt-based-on-a-true-story.png",617,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 08 February 2022 at 12:00 am Brand new comedy-drama This Is Going to Hurt made its BBC One debut tonight, with Ben Whishaw starring as a junior doctor trying to balance his relentless job with his crumbling personal life. With a cast featuring the likes of Dame Harriet Walter, Ambika…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/10959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Is This Is Going to Hurt based on a true story?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Which characters are based on real people?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""This\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/02\/22473206-high_res-this-is-going-to-hurt-f177fae.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"this-is-going-to-hurt\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"