Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery
2008 · BBC Four · 60 min · 1 season
S01E05 · Bloody Beginnings
Thu, 18 Sept, 6:00 am
Michael Mosley looks at how surgery dragged itself kicking and screaming out of the dark ages, transforming itself from butchery into a science.
About
Today, astonishing surgical breakthroughs are making face transplants, limb transplants and a host of other previously undreamed of operations possible. But getting here has not been a simple story of selfless men working tirelessly in the pursuit of medical advancement. Instead it's a bloodstained tale of blunders, arrogance, mishap and murder. In trying to keep us alive, surgeons have all too often killed us off, and life-saving solutions have often come from the most surprising places. Blood and Guts is an incredible story of stolen corpses, medical fraud, lobotomized patients – and every now and then courageous advances that have saved the lives of millions around the world. You may think twice before going under the knife…
Episodes
- E01
Into the Brain
Thu, 21 Aug· 60 minDocumentary series looking at the brutal, bloody and dangerous history of surgery begins with the area of the body where it has been most frightening - the brain.
- E02
Bleeding Hearts
Thu, 28 Aug· 60 minThe series about the history of surgery charts the development of heart surgery. Michael Mosley witnesses a breathtaking operation and meets a man with no heartbeat.
- E03
Spare Parts
Thu, 4 Sept· 60 minSeries about the history of surgery continues with a look at the development of transplant surgery, from a Nazi sympathiser to the latest miraculous operations.
- E04
Fixing Faces
Thu, 11 Sept· 60 minSeries about the history of surgery continues with a look at the development of plastic surgery, which started over 400 years ago with a spate of botched nose jobs.
- E05
Bloody Beginnings
Thu, 18 Sept· 60 minMichael Mosley looks at how surgery dragged itself kicking and screaming out of the dark ages, transforming itself from butchery into a science.
Cast
Michael Mosley
Presenter