Imagine having a medical complaint needing surgery and discovering that the “theatre” in which it happens is not the hospital kind, but an actual theatre full of paying punters. There’s no anaesthetic because it hadn’t been invented yet, so you feel the pain as the surgeon cuts into you with implements that he hasn’t bothered to wash – the theory of germs hadn’t been discovered.
Astonishingly, that grisly scenario is all true – it represents the state of British medicine about 150 years ago – and it’s mined for laughs in BBC2’s new comedy, Quacks, written by Rev’s James Wood. Count Arthur Strong’s Rory Kinnear stars
as Robert, a rock-star surgeon whose proudest boast is that he can amputate a limb in a minute and a half – given there was no pain relief, the shorter the surgery, the better. The Wrong Mans’ Mathew Baynton plays William, a fellow doctor who’s laughed at for wanting to treat mental illness, and Plebs’ Tom Basden plays John, an apothecary who nearly kills himself by self-testing the anaesthetic drugs he’s trying to invent.
Although full of very funny moments, Quacks isn’t just a comedy but a tribute to early medical pioneers, says James. It’s based on the roughly 20-year period, starting in the 1840s, when huge advances were made through trial and error.
“Most of it is based on actual fact,” adds James. “It came about because a surgeon I knew told me about the two dentists who pioneered anaesthesia in the 1840s – these two lunatics who tried it out on each other because they were trying to lessen pain for their patients.”
Quacks also finds laughs in the fact that Victorian doctors were constrained by social convention. It was largely unthinkable then for a male doctor (females were not allowed) to examine a woman, for example. Instead, a female patient was asked to point to the part of the body that ailed her on a “modesty doll”.
Thus Rupert Everett’s Dr Hendrick, a top hospital doctor, snorts to his colleagues, “I never examine my patients – I diagnose them through conversation.”
Rory’s arrogant, womanising surgeon Robert is the big star of the medical world, who plays to the crowds in his theatre as he wields his big limb saw.
“Robert is driven by nothing more than being the best,” explains Rory, 39. “He’s talented and he experiments so he can still be the best surgeon in town, because of the fame and accolades.”
His colleague William is a fledgling psychiatrist who’d like to help those with mental illness rather than just contain them in insane asylums.
“He’s someone with a great deal of empathy and you discover later in the series that his father is suffering from some form of dementia, which they wouldn’t have a great diagnosis or treatment for,” explains Mathew, 36. “He’s motivated to find better ways of caring for these people, but he has no tools or skills at his disposal.”
A raft of amusing cameos include Sherlock’s Andrew Scott as Charles Dickens, who’s portrayed as an arrogant boor; Rev’s Miles Jupp plays Dr George Combe, who develops a passion for Robert’s wife; and Four Lions’ Kayvan Novak is Mr Kapoor, a mesmerist. There’s also an appearance by Florence Nightingale (Milly Thomas), who upbraids the doctors on their poor hygiene standards.
Although Robert is an über-confident surgeon, Rory admits he didn’t enjoy the doctor side of the role. “I’m not particularly squeamish, but I realised I couldn’t work in a medical capacity at all,” he says. “It’s very personal, rummaging around in people’s flesh. People’s bodies are better clothed. Mine is, anyway.”
Although Quacks offers plenty of anarchic fun and invites us to laugh at now-discarded ideas, it also champions this dynamic time in history. Such maverick doctors might have been as likely to kill patients as cure them, but along the way they made significant progress in medicine. And what a breath of fresh air it is to have raucous comedy in the normally strait-laced world of period television.
Mathew Baynton points out that while comedy is based around failure, Quacks features characters failing only because of their circumstances. “And they are pioneers and visionaries, as opposed to being buffoons and idiots,” he says. “It was a treat to be in something with a bit more profundity to it.”
Quacks, Tuesday, 10PM, BBC2
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