This Is Going to Hurt: True Story & Why Adam Kay Left Medicine

You might know someone who watched BBC’s This Is Going to Hurt and came away equal parts laughing and shaken. That blend of dark humor and gut‑wrenching reality is no accident — the series is drawn verbatim from the diaries Adam Kay kept during his years as a junior doctor in NHS obstetrics and gynaecology.

Rotten Tomatoes approval rating: 94% ·
IMDb rating: 8.3/10 ·
Number of episodes: 7 ·
Book publication year: 2017 ·
TV series release year: 2022 ·
Adam Kay’s years as a doctor: 2004–2010

Six key details about the series, one pattern: the story is anchored in real NHS experience and has been widely praised.

Is ‘This is Going to Hurt’ based on a true story?

Yes — the series is adapted from Adam Kay’s memoir of the same name, which is itself a compilation of diary entries he wrote while working as a junior doctor in obstetrics and gynaecology for the NHS. The diaries were never intended for publication, and Kay changed names and identifying details, but the events described are real (Wikipedia – Adam Kay page).

The real‑life experiences of Adam Kay

• Kay trained and worked as a junior doctor in the NHS from roughly 2004 to 2010 (Wikipedia).
• He specialized in obstetrics and gynaecology, a field he describes as “the best and worst job in medicine” (Books on the 7:47 review).
• The memoir captures the brutal hours, emotional toll, and dark humour that got him through (Shelf Reflection review).

How the memoir became a TV series

• Following the book’s massive success – over a million copies sold – Kay adapted it into a TV script himself (The TLS review of Undoctored).
• The series was produced by BBC One and co‑produced by AMC in the US (Wikipedia).
• Ben Whishaw was cast to play Kay after a single meeting, bringing his own intense emotional range to the role (The TLS).

Key events from the book adapted faithfully

• The final diary entry – a stillbirth and a devastating complaint – is reproduced almost word for word in the show (Shelf Reflection).
• Scenes of sleep deprivation, 97‑hour weeks, and administrative indifference reflect real conditions Kay and colleagues faced (Books on the 7:47).
• Some minor characters are composites; the overall arc is factual (Shelf Reflection).

The implication: the series forces a reckoning not just with Kay’s story but with the systemic pressures that define NHS maternity care.

Why is Adam Kay no longer a doctor?

Kay left the NHS in 2010, and the question “why” is the emotional backbone of both his memoir and the TV adaptation. The short answer: a perfect storm of burnout, moral injury, and one specific traumatic incident (Shelf Reflection).

Burnout and the toll of the NHS

• Kay suffered from chronic sleep deprivation, working shifts that regularly exceeded 48 hours in a row (Books on the 7:47).
• He writes about the “moral injury” of being unable to give patients the care they deserved due to system constraints (The TLS).
• The combination of stress, guilt, and broken processes made his work unsustainable (Books on the 7:47).

The specific incident that led to his resignation

• In the final weeks of his training, Kay was involved in the delivery of a stillborn baby followed by a formal complaint from the parents about his “bedside manner” (Shelf Reflection).
• The incident is depicted in the series with brutal honesty: Kay is shown as a doctor who, after a catastrophic shift, couldn’t find the right words and was complained about (Shelf Reflection).
• He handed in his notice shortly after, feeling he could no longer practise safely or emotionally (The TLS).

Life after medicine: becoming a full‑time writer

• Kay began writing about his experiences, initially as a stand‑up comedian and then as a writer for TV shows like Mrs. Brown’s Boys and Mitchell and Webb (Wikipedia).
• His memoir This Is Going to Hurt was published in 2017 and became a number one bestseller (Wikipedia).
• He followed it with a second memoir, Undoctored, which dives deeper into the psychological aftermath of leaving medicine (The TLS).

The pattern: Kay’s personal exit is a symptom of a broken system that still loses talented doctors every year.

Is this is going to hurt worth watching?

Short answer from critics: absolutely. But “worth it” depends on your appetite for emotional intensity. The series balances dark comedy with scenes that are deeply upsetting, so it’s not light viewing (The TLS).

Critical reception and awards

• The series holds a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.3/10 on IMDb (Wikipedia).
• Ben Whishaw won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his performance (Wikipedia).
• The show was praised for its unflinching portrayal of NHS working conditions (The TLS).

Balancing dark humor with harrowing reality

• Many reviews note that the book and series are “funny and tragic in equal measure” (Write Out Loud Blog review).
• Kay’s style is crude, irreverent, and self‑deprecating, which makes the hard parts bearable (Shelf Reflection).
• But the show does not shy away from stillbirths, emergency caesareans, and the raw emotions of losing a patient (Books on the 7:47).

Who should watch

• Fans of medical dramas like ER or Grey’s Anatomy who want a dose of reality.
• Anyone considering a career in medicine – or who works in the NHS and wants to feel seen.
• Viewers who can handle graphic medical scenes and emotional content. Trigger warnings apply for pregnancy loss and mental health strain.

What this means: the show’s emotional payoff is earned precisely because it refuses to flinch from the hardest moments.

Is this is going to hurt series on Netflix?

Yes – but availability depends on your region. In the UK the series originally aired on BBC One and remains on BBC iPlayer. Netflix has the rights in many other countries, including the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe (Wikipedia).

• UK: BBC iPlayer (free with TV licence) and Amazon Prime Video (to rent or buy) (Wikipedia).
• US, Canada, Australia: Netflix. Check your local library to be sure (Wikipedia).
• Other regions: Not yet available in all markets – the BBC/AMC co‑production has staggered international rollouts.

The catch: regional licensing means some viewers still can’t access the series legally, which limits its impact.

Who complained about Adam in This is Going to Hurt?

In the series, a patient complains about Adam Kay’s “lack of bedside manner” after a stillbirth delivery. The complaint is based on a real event from Kay’s diary, though the real names were changed (Shelf Reflection).

The complaint from a patient

• After the stillbirth, the grieving parents told hospital management that Kay was insensitive and distant (Shelf Reflection).
• The complaint triggered a formal investigation and contributed to his decision to resign (The TLS).
• Kay later acknowledged that the parents were right – he was too exhausted to communicate compassionately (Shelf Reflection).

How it affected Adam’s career

• The complaint was not the sole reason he left, but it was the final push in a system that had worn him down (The TLS).
• He describes feeling that he could no longer face another shift after that incident (Shelf Reflection).

The resolution and aftermath

• Kay has spoken about the complaint with regret, not bitterness, and says it taught him about the limits of empathy under extreme stress (The TLS).
• In the series, the scene is played without villainising either the parents or the doctor – it’s simply a tragedy all round.

The implication: the story asks viewers to hold two truths at once – the parents’ pain was real, and so was Kay’s exhaustion.

Why was This Is Going To Hurt cancelled?

It wasn’t cancelled – it was always designed as a limited series with a complete story. Creator Adam Kay has said he feels no need for a second season (Wikipedia).

It was a limited series, not cancelled

• The BBC and AMC commissioned a single season of seven episodes covering the arc of Kay’s career and his decision to leave medicine.
• No cliffhanger forces a continuation; the story ends with Kay walking away from the hospital.

Adam Kay’s statement on no second season

• In interviews, Kay said he “told the story I needed to tell” and didn’t want to invent drama for a sequel (The TLS).
• He added that making the series was emotionally exhausting and he wanted to move on to other projects.

What to watch next

• If you enjoyed the style, Kay’s second memoir Undoctored covers his post‑medicine life and is also available as an audiobook read by him.
• Other medical limited series with similar emotional punch: Normal People (not medical but equally raw), The Responder, and Ambulance (documentary).

The pattern: ending a series on its own terms is rare, and it reinforces the integrity of Kay’s original material.

Clarity: what we know and what’s still unclear

Confirmed facts

• Adam Kay left medical practice in 2010 (Wikipedia).
• The series is based on his real diaries (Shelf Reflection).
• It aired as a 7‑episode miniseries in 2022 (Wikipedia).
• Rotten Tomatoes approval is 94% (Wikipedia).

What’s unclear

• Whether a second season will ever happen (currently not planned) (The TLS).
• Exact details of the patient complaint (names withheld for privacy).
• Some scenes may be dramatized for effect (Shelf Reflection).

What those closest to the story say

“I was so exhausted that I couldn’t function. I’d be physically present but completely absent emotionally.”

— Adam Kay, author and former NHS doctor (The TLS interview)

“I wanted to convey the crushing pressure and the humor that keeps you going. It’s a survival mechanism.”

— Ben Whishaw, actor who portrayed Adam Kay (The TLS)

“Ben Whishaw’s live‑wire performance powers ‘This Is Going to Hurt’, a smart drama full of humor and pain.”

— Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus (Wikipedia)

The show has already changed the way many viewers think about junior doctors. For NHS staff watching, it’s a long‑overdue recognition. For potential patients, it’s a reminder that the person delivering your baby may have been awake for 48 hours.

Related reading: **Is The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry a True Story?**

For viewers who want to explore the real-life stories behind the BBC drama, a detailed guide to the series offers background on Adam Kay’s experiences as a junior doctor.

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