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How realistic is Bodies?

38 replies

Herland · 17/04/2019 16:51

I'm watching the boxset on BBC iplayer and I am wondering how realistic it is. Anyone remember it - basically it describes gynaecology consultants (and hospital managements) as vain, arrogant bastards who will stop at nothing to cover their own backs.

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onlyconnect · 17/04/2019 21:17

People I know who work in medicine say it's more realistic than most medical dramas. I love it!

tinstar · 17/04/2019 22:18

Am also watching having seen a recommendation on the LoD thread as it's also by Jed Mercurio.

I have no recollection of it being on first time round and yet it was very highly rated. Just discovered today that Keith Allen/Mr Whitman and Tamzin Malleson/Polly are together in real life.

I like dramas with complicated characters - not just good or bad. It's easy to feel sympathy - or not - with all of the main characters.

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Herland · 17/04/2019 22:19

That is terrifying … It is fucking horrific. I am watching it now thinking thank fuck I never have to be in a gynae ward ever again. The focus on targets, the blatant negligence, the horrific patient care, It is fabulous entertainment but utterly horrifying if it is even a bit close to the truth.

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Herland · 17/04/2019 22:22

Tinstar - you can see the chemistry between Whitman and Polly. I also saw the LoD thread and had a massive ironing to do so I chucked it on this morning and I'm now (finished ironing) drinking a wee glass of white on series 2!!! I wonder why it didn't go beyond series 2?

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Sisterself · 17/04/2019 22:55

The medical stuff and childbirth stuff is amazingly realistic. Although I've never once seen a TV show get CPR quite right.
I've worked with a fair few arrogant consultants in the past and
I'm sure there is a lot of competition between consultants but it is a TV drama, so it will be rather exaggerated! Brilliant programme though.

TheGirlOnTheLanding · 18/04/2019 20:27

Wasn't Jed Mercurio training as a doctor before he moved to writing full time? So I'd assumed worryingly pretty accurate.

buggerthebotox · 18/04/2019 20:50

Yes, Jed is a trained medic. I think Bodies is fab - multifaceted characters and very grisly scenes. Not for the faint hearted! I learned more about my CS from that than the bloody hospital I gave birth in.

I didn't like the sex though - gratuitous imho and didn't add anything.

Apparently the book is good too.

Sisterself · 18/04/2019 21:11

Book is brilliant but not like the series - it's not set in obs and gynae. If I remember rightly it's more general medicine.
Does anyone remember his first series - Cardiac Arrest? That was also bloody great.

Travelledtheworld · 18/04/2019 22:12

I am also binge watching, spurred on by the Jed Mercurio connection and the fact that Keith Allen and Tamzin Malleson live locally.
It's shocking and fascinating. I have nerve seen so many shots of Vulvas and babies heads ! The baby that was delivered at 20 weeks gestation and then died really upset me.

Keith and Tamzin still very much a loving couple.

How realistic is Bodies?
AllTheWhoresOfMalta · 19/04/2019 01:28

Just started watching this- two episodes in and me and DP are completely hooked! Brilliant show. Can’t wait to see more of it.

tinstar · 19/04/2019 08:19

Have binge watched both series. Now waiting for you folks to get through them so we can discuss the season 2 finale!!

NicoAndTheNiners · 19/04/2019 08:23

Is it on iPlayer now?

I watched it ages ago before I worked on a labour ward so would like to watch it again and see what I think now.

reallybadidea · 19/04/2019 08:27

I would say that in the years since this was made, things have changed. But not as much as they should. And some hospitals more than others.

tinstar · 19/04/2019 08:58

Yes - it's on iPlayer.

AnnaMagnani · 19/04/2019 09:12

I would say much less now than it was then. But then there are new things to be depressed about in medicine that would also fill a drama - bullying now would more likely be about targets or saving money than negligence.

Cardiac Arrest was like a documentary - that was really scary. But now probably has much less resemblance to being a foundation year doctor - which is still rubbish but in different ways.

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Herland · 19/04/2019 09:52

I really need to watch the last couple of episodes but it's perhaps not appropriate for family Easter weekend viewing 🤣. I don't find the sex scenes particularly gratuitous and I think they add to the idea that these people are deeply unhappy. The sex seems disconnected and a symptom of their general malaise.

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Herland · 19/04/2019 09:54

Also need to check out Cardiac Arrest now. I'm away to Google it.

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tinstar · 19/04/2019 10:58

bullying now would more likely be about targets or saving money than negligence.

But there was an awful lot in Bodies about targets - not exceeding the 20% caesarean rate; avoiding risky cases in case they added to a consultant's mortality rate etc

LittleChristmasMouse · 19/04/2019 11:03

It is very realistic (or certainly of when I worked in the NHS). Obviously the high number of dramatic incidents don't happen like that in real life and I think the culture has changed now so that the consultants aren't treated like God but I recognise an awful lot in the behaviour and attitudes shown.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 19/04/2019 11:03

I think the sex scenes were vital to the storyline and not gratuitous at all.

I loved it , re watched it recently and loved it more than the first time,just so good!

AnnaMagnani · 19/04/2019 11:33

tinstar true - it's a long time since I watched it.

I think what the bullying is about is different, some of the blatantly misogynistic behaviour is less acceptable, but bullying itself is still rife.

Consultants definitely aren't treated like god anymore - they are just as likely to be the targets of bullying.

tinstar · 19/04/2019 11:45

Anna - oh yes, I'd be amazed if anyone was allowed to get away with such blatant misogyny these days. Probably true everywhere. When I think about how men behaved when I started working 35 years ago (not NHS) - outrageous!

I will never forget the consultant who dealt with my dad when he was dying from lung cancer. He was the most arrogant, callous person I've ever met. And that was only 7 years ago so I suspect there are still a few out there who think they are gods.

SinkGirl · 25/04/2019 18:45

I think the sex scenes were vital to the storyline and not gratuitous at all

Really? I only saw one episode years ago and it made me so angry I’ve never watched any more and won’t. The one I saw, I’m sure a woman had a laparoscopy, was disagnosed with endometriosis and within a very short time was having sex, possibly with her surgeon. I also remember doctors making awful comments about a woman’s body while she was under anaesthetic.

I was in my early 20s and was due my third laparoscopy shortly afterwards. It scared the shit out of me, and has made my fear of surgery so much worse. I’ll never watch any of it again. If it’s realistic, I don’t want to know!

Superchill · 25/04/2019 18:54

Very realistic for its time. Think of the was it Mid Staffs scandal?

I think pockets like this still exist, but, yeah, now shit in slightly different ways.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 25/04/2019 21:31

SinkGirl watching one episode wouldn't have given you an idea of the story line and how that was relavant to the story as a whole.

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