Emma Barnett, the BBC Today presenter, turns the camera on her own debilitating condition in a new documentary that pulls no punches. Endometriosis, which affects one in 10 women of reproductive age in the UK, is described by Barnett as 'like someone taking a drill to your organs' and a 'living death'. The film follows her as she reaches the end of her tether with both the pain and the medical establishment's response to it.
Barnett documents her own struggles candidly, filming herself in pyjamas unable to get out of bed, and interviews other sufferers. One woman, Mada, allows cameras to film her laparoscopy, revealing how endometriosis can glue internal organs together. When she receives her diagnosis, she cries with relief that she is 'not crazy'. Another woman, Chloe, paid for surgery in Dubai and requested a hysterectomy in the UK, saying her pain would prevent her from caring for a child anyway.
The documentary highlights the average nine-year wait for diagnosis in the UK and the lack of funding for research. Barnett visits the University of Edinburgh's endometriosis research team, where Dr Lucy Whitaker explains that the condition is underfunded because it doesn't kill anyone, despite costing the UK economy £12.5bn a year through women leaving the workforce. Barnett's interview with then-Health Secretary Wes Streeting is notably tense, as she refuses to be fobbed off and demands substantial assurances.
The programme is deliberately infuriating and often moving, shedding light on the medical misogyny that minimises women's pain. While Streeting acknowledges the problem, his departure from the role means the documentary cannot end on a fully optimistic note. Barnett, now considering a hysterectomy herself, leaves viewers with a stark picture of a condition that remains poorly understood and underfunded.
