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Where is This is Going to Hurt filmed?

Ben Whishaw stars in the drama

this is going to hurt ben
Nicky Morris
TV and film writer
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This is Going to Hurt is the new medical drama from the BBC, based on the best-selling memoir of the same name by comedy writer and former doctor Adam Kay.

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Set on a labour ward, the show follows junior doctor Adam, played by Ben Whishaw, as he tries to balance his personal life with his demanding career. But just where was the series filmed? Read on to find out. 

WATCH: What do you think of the new drama?

Where is This is Going to Hurt filmed?

Filming for the new drama began in February last year and officially wrapped in June. 

While the majority of the hospital scenes were filmed on a custom-built set, production crews were spotted working on Bloomsbury Street, Camden in February 2021, with more cameras spotted nearby Marchmont Street.

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 this is going to hurt adam incubator© Photo: BBC

What is This is Going to Hurt about? 

This is Going to Hurt follows Adam, who is "junior enough to suffer the crippling hours, but senior enough to face a constant barrage of terrifying responsibilities."

The official synopsis explains: "Adam is clinging to his personal life as he is increasingly overwhelmed by stresses at work: the 97-hour weeks, the life and death decisions, and all the while knowing the hospital parking meter is earning more than him."

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The series has been adapted from the novel by Adam Kay, who worked on an Obstetrics and Gynaecology ward for more than six years. When it came to writing his memoir, he consulted the diaries which he had kept while working in hospital between 2004 and 2010. 

this is going to hurt filming© Photo: BBC

The writer left his job as a doctor after a caesarean section went wrong on a shift when he was the most senior person on the ward. He told the Belfast Telegraph: "I'd had many difficult days at work prior to that and my coping mechanisms were enough to deal with those.

"But there was a maximum I could deal with and it was that day.

If that day hadn’t happened, I would have continued as a doctor. But the truth is, that day would have happened at some point," he added.

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