How does This Is Going To Hurt relate to the coronavirus crisis?

This Is Going To Hurt lays bare both the incredible effort that NHS staff put into caring for us all (more often than not, it’s dedication rather than salary or job satisfaction that drives them) and the huge challenges they face in doing exactly that.

Kay’s writing is darkly humorous but it also depicts a stark vision of a system buckling under a thousand different strains. It’s by parts frustrating, humbling and inspiring: and it’s the very same set of difficulties – and related emotions – that coronavirus is now throwing into even sharper relief. This makes it particularly poignant timing for the TV drama to hit our screens.

As the show’s star, Whishaw, says: “The Covid-19 crisis has now shed even more light on their great work and underlines the necessity to support the NHS and its workers.”

This Is Going To Hurt: Ben Whishaw to star in the BBC adaption of Adam Kay’s NHS memoir