Best Medicine

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BBC Radio 4 FM

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Factual: Science & Nature

Comedy: Panel Shows

Kiri Pritchard-McLean dissects funny and fascinating medicine with experts and comedians.

Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by funny and fascinating comedians, doctors, scientists and historians to celebrate medicine's inspiring past, present and future.

Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by funny and fascinating comedians, doctors, scientists, and historians to celebrate medicine's inspiring past, present and future.
In each programme, Kiri challenges her guests to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine', and each of them champions anything from world-changing science to an obscure invention, an every-day treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.

Whether it's micro-robotic surgery, virtual reality syringes, Victorian clockwork surgical saws, more than a few ingenious cures for cancer, world-first lifesaving heart operations, epidurals, therapy, dancing, faith or laughter - it's always something worth celebrating.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

BBC Radio 4 LW

Best Medicine: Series 1: 5. Laughter, Other People, Inclusion, Tissue Engineering

5. Laughter, Other People, Inclusion, Tissue Engineering

Series 1

BBC Radio 4 - Best Medicine, Series 1, 5. Laughter, Other People, Inclusion, Tissue Engineering

Drumming rats, Henry VIII's disabilities, laughter and a world-first heart operation.

Drumming rats, life-saving laughter, disability in Henry VIII's court and a revolutionary heart operation using placenta cells compete for the title of the best medicine.

This week comedian Nabil Abdulrashid tells us how laughter and comedy reduced the levels of violence in prison, heart surgeon Professor Massimo Caputo describes how he used tissue engineering in a world-first life-saving heart operation, neuroscientist Dr Adam Kampff brings us an incredible insight into the human brain by taking us from rats that play video games to the birth of language and human civilisation, and historian Phillipa Vincent-Connolly transports us back to Henry VIII's court to explore the lives of disabled courtiers. 

Best Medicine is your weekly dose of laughter, hope and incredible medicine. Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by funny and fascinating comedians, doctors, scientists and historians to celebrate medicine’s inspiring past, present and future.

Each week, Kiri challenges her guests to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine', and each of them champions anything from world-changing science to an obscure invention, an every-day treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.

Whether it’s micro-robotic surgery, virtual reality syringes, Victorian clockwork surgical saws, more than a few ingenious cures for cancer, world-first lifesaving heart operations, epidurals, therapy, dancing, faith or laughter - it’s always something worth celebrating.

Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Featuring: Nabil Abdulrashid, Professor Massimo Caputo, Dr Adam Kampff and Phillipa Vincent-Connolly

Written by Laura Claxton, Charlie George, Rajiv Karia, Pravanya Pillay, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ben Rowse

Producer: Ben Worsfield

Assistant Producer: Tashi Radha

Executive Producer: Simon Nicholls

Theme tune composed by Andrew Jones

A Large Time production for BBC Radio 4

Best Medicine: Series 1

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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Best Medicine

Series 1

5. Laughter, Other People, Inclusion, Tissue Engineering

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