Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery (5 Parts)

Synopsis

A series of five 50-minute programmes on the history of surgery, presented by Dr Michael Mosley. He introduces audiences to the breathtaking, heroic and at times comically entertaining story of how surgeons came to successfully save millions of lives worldwide. With locations ranging from the US to France, Germany and Italy, the series shows the latest surgical techniques, giving a greater understanding of the body, and revealing how science progressed through catastrophe as well as through the courageous pursuit of knowledge.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2008

Year of production

2008

Notes

Broadcast in 5 weekly parts on BBC4, beginning 20/8/2008

Documentation

Programme information available at: http://www.bbcactive.com/BroadCastLearning/asp/catalogue/productdetail.asp?productcode=22081

Subjects

Medical sciences

Keywords

brain surgery; heart surgery; history of medicine; plastic surgery; surgery

Credits

Contributor

Michael Mosley

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£975.00 (series) £195 each part

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

250 minutes

Year

2012

Sections

Title

Into the Brain

Synopsis

Documentary 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. Just over 100 years ago, cutting into the brain was a terrifying prospect for both patient and surgeon. From freak accidents involving crowbars through the skull to notorious lobotomies with icepicks, this programme reveals how, through mishap and misadventure, brain surgery has become the life-saving discipline it is today.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Bleeding Hearts

Synopsis

Documentary series about the brutal, bloody and dangerous history of surgery continues with a look at the development of heart surgery. With a family history of heart problems, presenter Michael Mosley takes a personal interest in these pioneers, who teetered on the scalpel-edge between saviour and executioner. Michael has a go at heart surgery, meets a man with no heartbeat and witnesses an operation where the patient is cooled until their brain stops and has all of their blood sucked out.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Spare Parts

Synopsis

Documentary series about the brutal, bloody and dangerous history of surgery continues with a look at the development of transplant surgery. These days transplant surgery saves thousands of lives every year and almost everything, from heart to eyes, can be replaced. But in the beginning transplants killed rather than cured, because surgeons didn’t understand that they were taking on one of the most efficient killing systems we know of - the human immune system.

Duration

50 mins

Title

Fixing Faces

Synopsis

Documentary series about the brutal, bloody and dangerous history of surgery continues with a look at the development of plastic surgery. Thought of as a modern phenomenon, it actually started over 400 years ago with a spate of botched nose jobs. Since then, surgeons have been entranced with the idea that not only could they fix the body, but could even fix our sense of self-esteem. Presenter Michael Mosley undergoes both 16th century bondage and 21st century botox in his journey of discovery

Duration

50 mins

Title

Bloody Beginnings

Synopsis

Documentary series about the brutal, bloody and dangerous history of surgery concludes with a look at how surgery dragged itself kicking and screaming out of the dark ages, transforming itself from butchery into a science. Presenter Michael Mosley finds out how the early days of surgery were dark and barbaric, when the surgeon’s knife was more likely to kill you than save you and invasive medicine generally meant being bloodlet by leeches to within an inch of your life

Duration

50 mins

Distributor

Name

BBC Active Video for Learning - now BBC Learning

Contact

Carolina Fernandez Jeremy Wilcox (CF - for educational enquiries JW - channel sales manager)

Email

BBCStudiosLearning@bbc.com

Web

https://www.bbcstudioslearning.com/ External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 (0) 20 8433 1009

Address

BBC Studios Limited
Television Centre
101 Wood Lane
London
W12 7FA
UK

Notes

The BBC Active company has now been absorbed within BBC Learning, a division of BBC Studios. It was originally a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Pearson Education. Formerly known as ‘BBC Worldwide Learning Studies’ and before that as ‘Videos for Education & Training’