We’re stunned and slack-jawed. For once, TV has thrown a curve ball. Dr Gunther Von Hagens starred in his latest penny peep show – Autopsy; Life Or Death, cutting up old people on TV. Of course, he’s notoriously done this before, but boy, this was compelling viewing at its best.
Firstly, Dr Von Hagens is pure villain in appearance, resembling – as he does – the baddie Nazi guy from the Indiana Jones flick. In a TV world where most doctors look like Dr Legg from Eastenders or – worse still – perverts, Gunther is all blue cape and black fedora.
Autopsy: Life Or Death kicked off with a real-life naked man with internal
organs projected onto his torso. The broadcast started well, making the
model look like a psychedelic Tron character, and then swiftly moved on
to Dr Van Hagens stood over the corpse of an elderly lady.
To be frank,
there is nothing that gets you over the shock of seeing a cadaver on a
slab being… well, cut open and prodded around. Quite predictably, it is both
fascinating and horrifying at the same time. What makes the whole thing
a bit more surreal is the sound of Gunther making cheeky quips whilst
snipping through ribs with some scissors.
The scientific nature of the programme does make for occasional
dryness, but there is something slightly exotic about watching Von
Hagens, and listening to his fervour about his process. He frequently
calls his sidekick, Professor John Lee to the slab to giddily wax on
about perfect arteries and such. Unfortunately for Professor Lee, he is
merely a man of facts and relies on his plasma screen to show his
wares. Compared to what Von Hagens has on offer, it’s small fry.
Gunther’s enthusiasm is palpable. His breathless "come here John! Look!
Look!" draws your stunned eyeballs to some profoundly moving images of
what now feels like your heart.
Von Hagens has another trick up his sleeve when he flushes the heart
with a UV sensitive resin, and shines a UV light upon the cavity. The
results are extraordinary. The heart virtually comes to life, running
with fluorescent ‘blood’ showing off its staggering light show. Image
after image, cut and snip hits home the comprehension of the
complexities and delicacy of your very innards. Wow.
That said, all this breathtaking footage had to be broken up somehow.
The disturbing shot of the aforementioned naked model man proudly
showing his shaved member is an ample comedown. The worst effect of
this is for all the interesting information being relayed at these
times completely balloons over your head because you can’t stop staring
at a big, bald cock.
You must understand that Autopsy is not squarely aimed at the boffins
amongst you. It is fair to assume that most tuned in for the ‘freak
show’ nature of it all, but really, this is what your TV set was built
for. Riveting, incredible viewing and most importantly, hugely
entertaining. Miss next week’s episode at your peril. He’s probably
skinning Fearne Cotton alive, and guess what? We’re personally paying for
it.
Magic!
Autopsy: Life Or Death is on Channel 4 from Monday 16 to Thursday 19 January at 11.05pm
[story by Mof Gimmers]
