Thought The Crown surgeons looked realistic? Here’s why...
THE mood is sombre, the tension palpable as surgeons battle to save the life of George VI in £100million TV drama The Crown.
And now insiders have told why the actors looked so comfortable wielding a scalpel – they are actually a leading surgical team from Guy’s Hospital in London.
It is thought to be the first time that qualified surgeons have been used in a television production to add authenticity to a scene.
During the opening episode of the lavish series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, screened by Netflix on Friday, doctors are seen removing the King’s cancerous left lung in a makeshift operating theatre at Buckingham Palace.
Director Stephen Daldry was keen to replicate the real operation – conducted by Sir Clement Price Thomas in 1951 – and asked for the help of Mr Pankaj Chandak, a specialist registrar in transplant surgery, and his team.
Mr Chandak said: ‘Once we’d settled in it felt like a normal day in the operating theatre. There was meticulous attention to detail to recreate the surgical world of 1951.’
A spokesman for production company Left Bank Pictures said: ‘The operation on George VI really did take place in Buckingham Palace as shown. The surgical team were invaluable to making it as believable as possible.’