Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt optioned for TV

The Picador title, published on 7th September 2017 in hardback, e-book and audiobook, was signed by Naomi De Pear of Sister Pictures, from Cathryn Summerhayes, Amanda Davis, Jessica Cooper and Kat Buckle at Curtis Brown after a 12-way auction.

The series will be written by Adam Kay and developed by Katie Carpenter and Naomi de Pear, who will Executive Produce the series.

This is Going To Hurt is the diary of writer and comedian Adam Kay during the six years he spent as a junior doctor. It is a blistering first-hand account of life working for the NHS in all its joy, pain, sacrifice, hilarity, horror and maddening bureaucracy. Kay, who worked as a junior doctor between 2004 and 2010, had previously turned his experiences into a critically acclaimed sell-out show which ran at the Edinburgh Festival and then at Soho Theatre. Kay is an award-winning writer for TV and film, with credits including Mongrels, Crims, Mrs Browns Boys, Mitchell and Webb, Flat TV and Very British Problems.

Sister Pictures is an independent production company, founded in November 2015 by Jane Featherstone. Naomi De Pear joined Sister Pictures in May 2016. Whilst Head of Development at Kudos, De Pear developed River, Apple Tree Yard, Flowers, Tin Star and Humans. She also heads up comedy label Hootenanny, from which she is making The Bisexual, created by and starring Desiree Akhavan and the second series of Will Sharpe’s acclaimed tragicomedy Flowers for Channel 4. Sister’s other current projects include The Split by award-winning writer Abi Morgan for BBC 1, Clean Break for ITV starring Sheridan Smith, Chernobyl for HBO, and Giri/Haji written by Joe Barton for BBC and Netflix. Sister are also adapting award-winning Naomi Alderman’s novel The Power for television.

Adam Kay says:

“I couldn't be happier about working with Sister to bring This is Going to Hurt to television. Jane, Naomi, Katie and the whole team are fantastic, with a brilliant vision for the show, and a hard and rightly won reputation for producing world-class television. I'll try my best not to ruin their reputation.”

Naomi De Pear says:

“Adam’s book is a visceral and hilarious reminder of how brave, ridiculous, beautiful and stupid human beings and the systems they create are. I snorted with laughter on every page and was left completely heartbroken. We’re honoured to be able to work with Adam on adapting his vision for television. The NHS is a magnificent beast and it's imperative that this story be told now.”