Thread by @domini_taylor

As #ThisIsGoingToHurt comes to an end tonight, here’s a celebration of a huge part of the show: the dozens of real NHS medics who helped make it. They’re all absolute heroes. They’re why it looks so real, and most of them are also in the show! First up…
(1/15)

...O&G consultant @nickipike. She did so much across the shoot, but my favourite bit: remember in Ep 6 when Shruti takes charge to save the patient from the private hospital? It’s cos of Nicki that it looks so slick and real! Here she is ready for her cameo as a nurse. (2/15)

@Euro_Bo_Bo is an SpR at Homerton. Remember those gory surgery shots during the emergency at the end of Ep 1? Seb was Ben Whishaw’s suturing hand double. Seb was a hero (and style icon) on set. He also threw on a costume and stood in for a patient’s husband. (3/15)

@DrMacSwan is a SpR at UCLH. She taught Ben Whishaw and @ambikamod the basics of O&G before the shoot. Ruth, Nicki and Seb were our core trio of O&G advisors on set. I particularly love Ruth’s nurse cameo because Ben bosses her about. (4/15)

Before the shoot, Nicki, Ruth and Seb taught the cast how to do the operations. Here’s Nicki and Seb running through a c-section, and the very first time @ambikamod delivered a (cellophane wrapped prosthetic) baby! (5/15)

The surgeries look real because we had actual scrub nurses right by our actors. The wonderful Glorence Santos helped us find all the exact instruments, down to the very last suture. You’ll spot her in lots of the surgeries. Here she is (far right) assisting Shruti. (6/15)

Lisa Livingstone is a scrub nurse at Homerton who assists Adam and Shruti during a load of the big operations. Here’s Lisa peeling back the dressing from the terrible job Adam has done on the racist patient’s tattoo. (7/15)

Sophie Montgomery is an ODP (Operating Dept Practitioner). All those massive emergency surgeries required a lot of intricate action, and Sophie made it all look super real. Here’s Sophie and Lisa behind the scenes. (8/15)

@ProfAnnJohn is an expert in suicide, and also used to be a junior doctor. The @samaritans connected us with her, and she worked with us to ensure Shruti’s story was handled with as much care and sensitivity as possible. (9/15)

Rupa Rubinstein and @Tim_van_Hasselt were our two Neonatal advisors. All those scenes of Erika’s baby in NICU were set up by them – down to each tiny tube on prosthetic baby Mist. In real life they help keep premature babies like Mist alive, which is pretty incredible! (10/15)

Thanaa Martin is an A&E nurse. That terrifying scene in Ep 4 when the patient nearly dies – Thanaa helped make it look real, and also played a resus nurse. Here’s Thanaa (stood right behind Ruth) on that insane shoot day. (11/15)

Consultant Roger Marwood helped us understand and prepare all the medical detail before the shoot (and was real Adam’s actual consultant when he was a doctor!) @ClareGerada, leading campaigner for mental health support for doctors, helped us get Shruti’s story right. (12/15)

@jasminbassi1 is a registrar in A&E, and helped us make Mrs Winnicka’s arrest look horribly real. Senior midwife Kellie McAuliffe trained our midwife characters, and helped us on set for a big midwife scene. (13/15)

We had help from consultant anaesthetist Dan Jacobs, and advice from Tash Green, a domestic abuse worker, on Anna’s story on Ep 3. Finally, to @hmmoorhouse, thank you for replying to my 100s of random texts about childbirth! (14/15)

To all of you, a massive thank you for everything you did. In the words of Miss Houghton, ‘Next time I’m pregnant with triplets, I’m getting you to do them. Bang up job there’. (15/15)