Inside the Human Body: June 30
This episode begins with a scene of a baby being born and ends, controversially, with the last breath drawn by an elderly man dying in hospital.
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On Thursday night Nine will screen a controversial episode from the BBC series Inside The Human Body, “First to Last.”
Hosted by Michael Mosley, this excellent doco looks at life from birth to death. It begins with a scene of a baby being born and ends, controversially, with the last breath drawn by an elderly man dying in hospital. But the man consented to the filming, first giving an interview to producers.
Some of the amazing human achievements in between also make this more about science than sensationalism.
The running time on the preview of this was 59 minutes, so it’s unclear how much will be trimmed for its airing on Nine.
In this episode on Thursday, June 30, at 8.30pm, host Michael Mosley shows how existence is a constant struggle and how, minute by minute, from your first breath to your last, your body performs countless small miracles to keep you alive.
Gerald, a man dying from liver and lung disease, agreed to let Inside The Human Body film his death as he passed away at home with his family around him to show viewers what happens when your body finally fails.
A spokesperson for the BBC said: “Death is an important part of the human experience, and showing Gerald’s death is integral to understanding what happens to the body when it is no longer able to function properly. The BBC does not shy away from difficult subjects like this.”
Also in this episode, host Mosley meets three remarkable people who demonstrate how well the human body can adapt to extreme environments: Herbert, a world champion free-diver who can hold his breath in the depths of the ocean for up to nine minutes; Wim the Ice Man, who can swim in glacial lakes so cold they would kill a normal person; and Debbie, who has lived for 10 years on a diet of crisps.
Inside The Human Body airs Thursday, June 30, at 8.30pm on Channel Nine.
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7 Responses
I would have loved to see this documentary-but was not able to it-am happy to have read these commentaries which brought me more context than the dvd itself-I think there is no need to actually see the documentary annymore. Thank you guys.
Cheers
CH9 need to be congratulated for broadcasting the series only a month after it was shown in the UK.
But …. the 1st episode aired for 58 mins on BBC1. On CH9 45 mins of episode 1 was broadcast … with 13 mins cut from the episode so they can show their ads. I expect a similar amount of episode 2 will end up on the cutting room floor.
I realise that commercial TV need to broadcast ads to make money but cutting a show just so they can broadcast the ads should be banned.
@John,
Thanks for that. There is also a great documentary that screened at the Sydney Film Festival. It’s called How to Die in Oregon. Very compelling watch. It hits on all the big issues surrounding the right to die.
*waits for Today Tonight to do a story about this*
@dogue.That was the 1998 series called “The Human Body’ presented by Prof Robert Winston,the last episode showed the death of a man in his 70’s.The Media maybe on the wrong track here about the fire-storm they say happened in the UK when this episode was screened,think they maybe thinking of the outcry last month when the BBC screened a assisted suicide in Switzerland….but it all makes for a good headline.
There’s an older documentary that aired on the ABC that tackles all the drama from life to death. It is very, very well done. I’m looking forward to this.
This really is a good series, last night I watched again the first episode which I recorded. I think the first ep should be used in the classroom when teaching biology to students, it’ll be heaps more fascinating!