Award-winningOperation Ouch! returns for 12th Series with NHS special ahead of museum exhibition launch
21 June 2023
Operation Ouch! – The BBC’s multi-award-winning franchise from 141 Productions, part of Objective Media Group, an All3Media Company - has been commissioned for its 12th series. Drs Chris and Xand Van Tulleken are back alongside Dr Ronx Ikharia with the ever-popular show which puts all aspects of medicine under the microscope, joined again by last year’s new additions Drs Dan and Raphael Olaiya.
Featuring all the fan-favourite strands including more incredible experiments in Don’t Try This at Home, the doctors set up shop in new locations, including a theme park and a zoo, with their very own pop-up pod in Ouch & About to answer children’s medical questions about their own bodies. Twin dancing doctors Drs Dan and Raph return as Mindboosters gets a zen boost with the power of yoga bringing a much-needed moment of calm. And the hospital stories continue as the team follow children who find themselves in the emergency departments of Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool and get treated for their injuries and ailments.
New for S12, Dr Chris and Dr Xand will discover the Cupboard of Everything has a new button that enables them to travel through time, unearthing medical inventions and cures from the past, present and future. And Ouch will be joining a flying medical service in Australia as On Call goes Down Under to find out how patients are cared for when they live in the most remote of places.
Kez Margrie, BBC Commissioning Editor for 7+, said: “We’re thrilled to be bringing another series of Operation Ouch! to our viewers with plenty more fun and lols along the way!”
Executive Producer Romily Menzies added: “This is an exciting time for Operation Ouch! as we embark up on our 12th
series and our first ever exhibition. The cherry on top is the opportunity to celebrate the incredible medical teams working across the UK in our NHS anniversary special.”
Following its Broadcast Digital nomination for its last special, Operation Ouch! Let’s Talk About Cancer, the team celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS ahead of S12. Operation Ouch! Happy 75th Birthday NHS! will look back at life before the NHS, as Dr Xand travels through time to find out how its arrival changed the health of people in the UK. Featuring archive from key points in the NHS’ history, the one off, which will air on the anniversary, Wednesday 5th July, will see Dr Chris catch up with previous Ouchers, and follow Dr Ronx as they award special Ouch Hero medals to hospital heroes, celebrating the incredible medical teams from the NHS who have helped children across the UK.
The success of the Operation Ouch! brand extends this summer as the Science and Industry Museum’s blockbuster exhibition, Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You, opens on Friday 21 July in Manchester. An epic experiment full of super-sized science, unfiltered adventure, and glorious grossness during a voyage through the digestive system, it will be the first time hit CBBC show, has been brought to life as an exhibition experience. Visitors will be sent on a special mission to get up close and in one case, extremely personal, with presenters Dr Chris, Dr Xand and Dr Ronx as they are shrunk, swallowed, squeezed through, and spat out of Dr Xand’s digestive system during a lively, interactive and playful adventure to better understand our brilliant bodies.
