There's plenty of excellent medicodrama on TV this week. If you're a Casualty fan (I'm not), there is a double bill tonight to mark the show's 20th anniversary. An article in The Telegraph pokes fun at the formula.
On Monday, Channel 4, 9 pm is a Bodyshock episode called 'Kill me to cure me', on the use of hypthermic cardiac standstill to operate on a brain aneurism. One can only assume it was successful, otherwise it wouldn't be on TV. Stay up or record 'Regeneration' at 11.45 pm on BBC1, the acclaimed movie of Pat Barker's prizewinning trilogy.
Also on a mental health theme, don't miss the second part of Stephen Fry's 'The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive'. The first part last week was excellent. Fry, who is undoubtedly a national treasure, speaks movingly and honestly about his bipolar disorder. He interviews his luminary friends plus people unearthed by researchers, all of whom have enlightening stories to tell. Fry is outstanding as a narrator. He maintains a sense of scepticism alongside his wry sense of humour. It's a privilege to have an insight into what is clearly a painful personal journey. It's on BBC2 at 9.00 pm.
On Thursday at 9.00 pm on C4 is a Dispatches episode on 'that drug trial' that went horribly wrong. This is a fascinating story, not least because the patients themselves couldn't speak for themselves for days after the catastrophe. Reasons of taste prevented pictures of the so-called 'elephant men' being published at the time, it will be interesting to see what is showable and what is sayable after the event.
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