''Embarrassing Bodies'' (formerly ''Embarrassing Illnesses'') is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Award-winning medical

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programme broadcast by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and made by Maverick Television since 2007. In 2011, an hour-long live show was introduced, "Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic", which makes use of

Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...

technology. Various spin-offs have been produced in relation to the programme to target different patients, such as ''Embarrassing Fat Bodies'' and ''Embarrassing Teenage Bodies''. The series' basic premise involves members of the public with a wide variety of medical conditions consulting the show's doctors for advice; in some cases, cosmetic or corrective surgery has been offered and undertaken to treat patients with more severe or noticeable ailments. The programme's consultant is UK Registered

Psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

and Cognitive Behavioral Therapist Becky Spelman The Commissioning Editors were Adam Gee and Kate Teckman. The show was revived in 2022, with the new series debuted on 19 May 2022 featuring a new cast of doctors.

Format

Throughout its numerous series, ''Embarrassing Bodies'' has set out to aid people who have a variety of medical issues. These issues tend to be taboo or misunderstood. With the help of its patients and the diagnoses of its doctors, the show tries to make common medical issues—especially those that are "embarrassing" or sexual—understood, and to debunk myths surrounding them. The programme's method of tackling these issues has caused great success and has attracted large numbers of people to its website.

Presenters

Numerous specialist doctors have appeared regularly throughout the show, such as Asim Shahmalak who appeared on the show to talk about and demonstrate his hair transplant techniques. Mr Shaw Somers, a specialist gastrointestinal and bariatric surgeon, would regularly discuss obesity and also perform surgery on patients with obesity-related diseases during ''Embarrassing Bodies'' as well as ''Embarrassing Fat Bodies''.

Series

As the show grew in popularity, ''Embarrassing Bodies'' created a common theme throughout some of its series, dedicating whole series to a certain group of society, such as children, overweight people and teenagers. Series 3 saw the return of the mobile clinic, a common setting for the show. It also saw the beginning of ''Embarrassing Bodies: Back to the Clinic'', which would see ex-patients from the series returning to the clinic to discuss how life has been since their last visit. Series 4 started with a special episode, which saw the team based in Spain. The fourteenth episode of Series 5 saw a one-hour live special, during which patients would send in pictures or videos via email, social media or Skype and specialist doctors would try to diagnose the issue and then follow-up the patients. The final episode of Series 6 was dedicated to cancer and was entitled '' Stand Up to Cancer''. Series 7 consisted of three specials named ''The Man With Half a Face'', ''Penis Special'' and ''The 36-Stone Woman''.

Main series

Specials

Although specials are considered series in their own right, they tended to be intertwined with the main series.

Awards

EB has won two BAFTA awards: *2009 Award for Interactivity Online *2010 Award for Interactive Creative Contribution EB was nominated for the 2013 National Television Award for Factual Entertainment.

''Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic''

In May 2011, a spin-off series, ''Embarrassing Bodies: Live from the Clinic'' (titled ''Diagnosis Live from the Clinic'' in pre-publicity and the first episode) launched, enabling viewers to appear via

webcams A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in Videotelephony, video telephony, live streaming and social media, and Closed-circuit television, security. Webcams can b ...

and

. The programme was presented by Christian Jessen and Dawn Harper, with additional narration and reports from Pixie McKenna. These episodes consist of approximately 47 minutes.

International versions

''Embarrassing Bodies Down Under''

In October 2013, an Australian version of the show was launched on LifeStyle You. The show's first series comprised eight episodes, which were hosted by doctors Ginni Mansberg, Brad McKay, and Sam Hay. The show's layout is similar to its British counterpart and focuses on the health issues of various Australian citizens. In 2015 the show was broadcast on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

''Dit is mijn lijf''

A Dutch spin-off version of the show called '' Dit is mijn lijf'' (''"This is my body"'') was broadcast on RTL4 from 26 October 2011 and ran for three series. In the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, the British version was aired on RTL5 under the title of ''Gênante Lijven'' (''"Embarrassing Bodies"'').

''Я соромлюсь свого тіла''

A Ukrainian spinoff of the show called ''Я соромлюсь свого тіла'' (''"I'm ashamed of my body"'') has been broadcast on STB since 6 March 2014.

''Я стесняюсь своего тела''

Russian TV channel U, which broadcast the Ukrainian version of the show, made the Russian adaptation in 2019. The Russian name of the show is ''Я стесняюсь своего тела'' (''"I'm ashamed of my body"'').

Reception

Channel 4 aired a version of the series where Dawn Harper went to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and provided information on how to stay healthy while abroad. Christopher Hooton of '' Metro'' said that it provided some "incredibly sensible tips on staying healthy while travelling".

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=1039201, title=Embarrassing Bodies
Embarrassing Bodies: Kids at Channel 4Embarrassing Bodies at ninemsn
2007 British television series debuts 2000s British medical television series 2010s British medical television series 2020s British medical television series Embarrassing Bodies Television shows about diseases and disorders Television series by All3Media British English-language television shows