Actor Ben Whishaw was shown how to perform a C-section for his new role as a beleaguered doctor – and said it’s easier than he expected.
Bafta-winner Ben – best known as gadgets expert Q in the 007 movies –plays a junior medic in BBC1’s This Is Going to Hurt.
He said: “We’ve learned how to do Caesareans. I had no idea it was as basic as it is. You take a scalpel, slice through flesh, put your hands in, pull the muscles apart and grab the baby.
“Things like that are extraordinary.”
Ben, 41, stars in the adaptation of former doctor Adam Kay’s 2.5 million- selling 2006 diaries from next Tuesday. He revealed one of his favourite scenes depicts a mum trying to eat her placenta.
He said: “She’s read it’s good for her and the baby and, well, it gets messy.”
Ben added: “I think it’s a time when we’ve all been more aware than normal of just how much we owe to the people who work for the NHS.”
Author Kay was thrilled when Ben was cast in the comedy drama. He said: “To have the finest actor of his generation playing me? In a career-defining performance? Yeah, it’s OK, I guess.”
The series, also starring Ambika Mod and Dame Harriet Walter, chronicles Kay’s tough 97-hour-a-week shifts.
