Documentary
Some people see their lives dramatically turned upside down because they waited for too long before seeking care. The documentary series showcases individual who should have rapidly consulted with a doctor when the first signs of illness appeared, before the situation became…


Marc-André Fortin, a well-known singer in Quebec, had always been in shape and had never had any health issues.

Vanessa is a young single mother with a very busy schedule. She didn’t listen to her body and ignored the early signs of breast cancer.

Charles is a young man with a full schedule. One day, he noticed a little bump on one of his testicles, but he didn’t worry.

Aïssatou is a busy but happy nurse. Diagnosed since childhood with chronic anaemia, she ignored symptoms of a dangerous uterine fibrosis.

Roland’s life was very busy. He owned a bar and managed a warehouse. Constantly busy, he underestimated symptoms of prostate cancer.
To get back into shape, Rémi chose boxing. During a fight he received violent punches. He ignored symptoms of a concussion.

In her forties, Céline started having irregular menstruation, bloating and pain in her abdomen. These were symptoms of ovarian cancer.
For a long time, Isabelle has suffered from bloating, diarrhea and abdomen pain. In fact, it’s celiac disease taking over her life.
Not very keen on hospitals, Jacinthe pushed back her doctor’s appointment, while a serious case of cervix cancer is developing.
Marie-Claude suffered from pain to feet, which kept her from walking. In fact, she had been suffering from active rheumatoid arthritis.
A young student and new mother, Maryann saw her fingers turning blue and a sore appear. She ignored these symptoms.
Since her teenage years, Virginie had had difficult menstruation. Tests revealed that her symptoms were caused by a case of endometriosis.
Lise had been living for twenty years with a little skin growth on her little finger, when she learned that it was caused by cancer.

Himself

Victorian Pharmacy is a historical documentary TV series in four parts, first shown on BBC Two in July 2010. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television. It was filmed at Blists Hill Victorian Town in Shropshire. It is a historical documentary that looks at life in the 19th Century and how people attempted to cure common ailments. Since some of the ingredients of Victorian remedies are now either illegal or known to be dangerous, Nick Barber often uses his modern pharmaceutical knowledge to produce similar products without those ingredients. The other main presenters are Tom Quick, a PhD student, and Ruth Goodman, a domestic historian who also appeared in Tales from the Green Valley, Victorian Farm and Edwardian Farm.

Examining the quality crisis in our health-care system and exploring innovative solutions, this four-part PBS documentary provides a comprehensive look at the state of medicine in America today. Topics include patient safety, medical and medication mistakes, hospital-acquired infections, family-centered care and effective management of chronic disease. Moving personal stories highlight the problems and the people who are working to solve them.

The series investigates Paolo Macchiarini’s claims to have invented a ground-breaking method to create new organs. His method using plastic tracheas sown with stemcells has been operated on patients in the US, Russia, Sweden and the UK. So far, unfortunately, the track record of his plastic organs is not very good. Almost all patients are dead. And several of his former surgeon colleagues in Sweden claim that not only does the method not work, but that his scientific claim to fame is based on falsified and misrepresented data. Some even claim that his patients have been used as human guinea-pigs.

The Body in Question is a landmark British medical documentary series of 13 shows made for the BBC. It was a groundbreaking show, being the first to ever televise an autopsy (in the final show on 29 Jan 1979). Dr Jonathan Miller considers the functioning of the body as a subject of private experience. He explores our attitudes towards our bodies, our ignorance of them, and our inability to read our body's signals. The first episode starts with vox populi asking where various organs in the body are located. By the final episode we are left in no doubt. Taking as his starting point the experience of pain, Dr Miller analyses the elaborate social process of "falling ill", considers the physical foundations of "disease" and looks at the types of individuals humankind has historically attributed with the power of healing. The series was nominated for two 1979 BAFTAs: Best Factual Television Series and Most Original Programme/Series.

A long journey in 8 episodes to discover the human body, with Piero Angela who closely observes our organism, focusing each time on a theme: the eye, the ear, taste and smell, the stomach and the intestine, liver, bones, lungs and heart. How does our "wonder machine" work? To make each explanation direct and clear, the program uses films, animations and photographs developed with the scanning electron microscope.