PICK OF THE DAY Surgeons: At The Edge Of Life

Every year three million complex operations are performed across the country, and some of the trickiest are carried out at the Royal Papworth and Addenbrooke’s hospitals in Cambridge.

As cameras go behind the scenes, this returning series focuses on an astonishing operation. Shelly is 54 years old but struggling with the simplest tasks because of pulmonary hypertension. Her only hope for a normal life is to be rid of the clots in her lungs, but surgeon David Jenkins (right) has to stop her heart and drain her body of blood in the process.

Meanwhile, consultant orthopaedic surgeon Andrew Carrothers is hoping to help prostate and bone cancer patient Peter to walk again with a radical new operation. Even if you’re squeamish, this is essential viewing, if only for the compelling human drama.