Ben Whishaw hospital drama takes a dark turn: review

We’ve all seen our fair share of medical series — the overworked doctors and nurses, the brutal hours, the staff camaraderie (or lack thereof), the beaten-down residents, etc.

And, by that yardstick, “This Is Going to Hurt” doesn’t offer much of anything new in this oversaturated genre; it’s akin to watching an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Chicago Med” or “New Amsterdam” or “The Resident” et al., only spread out over seven episodes instead of a 44-minute storyline.

The dramedy stars Ben Whishaw (“A Very English Scandal,” “Fargo”) and premieres June 2 on AMC+ and Sundance Now. It’s adapted from British writer Adam Kay’s bestselling book, based on the diaries he kept during his six-year career as a physician in the UK specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. Kay also wrote the series, which meanders along before taking a brutally dark “didn’t see that one coming” turn later on.

It’s 2006 when we meet Dr. Adam Kay (Whishaw), the chief resident in obstetrics/gynecology working for the National Health Service in an understaffed, underfunded, chaotic London hospital worlds apart from its upscale, very expensive counterpart private clinics. He’s rail-thin, dour and perpetually exhausted — working nearly every hour of every day — with little time for a social life, impacting his two-year relationship with the more outgoing Harry Muir (Rory Fleck Byrne, who looks like a young Roger Daltrey). Adam hasn’t come out to his work colleagues — everyone, including his boss, posh Mr. Lockhart (male surgeons in the UK are referred to as “Mr.”) — assumes his “relationship” is with a woman and he does nothing to correct the misconception as he stalks the hospital halls with a combination of wiseass sarcasm and brusqueness.

He treats his quiet underling, Dr. Shruti Acharya (Ambika Mod), with contempt, and is unable (or unwilling) to empathize with her overwhelming struggles as she balances the stress of work with studying for her exams. If she can’t hack it now she never will, Adam tells her in not so many words. He also also breaks the so-called “fourth wall” by talking directly to the camera with flippant, pithy commentary. It’s a bit off-putting, at first, and there’s less of this in later episodes once the thematic table is set.

Trouble arises when Adam sends a young pregnant woman home too soon and she returns shortly thereafter, giving birth to a premature baby, which survives … just barely. She files a complaint against Adam and he worries he’ll lose his job — that he’ll be “struck off” (in British parlance) and his career ruined after his upcoming hearing before the NHS review board.

Whishaw is intense and believable as Adam and there are some funny lines sprinkled throughout, particularly when Adam references his aloof, disapproving mother (“the room gets about 10 degrees colder” when she enters, he says.) But there’s not much to like about him, particularly early in the series, and that makes it difficult to empathize with someone who’s so crusty and miserable most of the time — though both he and the series redeem themselves somewhat, by bowing out on a hopeful note.