Sister Pictures takes Junior Doctor rights

UK production company Sister Pictures has bought the TV rights to a new book detailing the real-life experiences of a junior doctor.

Jane Featherstone

London-based Sister Pictures, which coproduced season three of ITV crime drama Broadchurch, secured the deal for writer and comedian Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, following a 12-way auction.

The series will be written by Kay and developed by Sister’s Katie Carpenter and Naomi De Pear, who helped sign the rights for the Picador publication, which is released today. The pair will also executive produce the series.

Along with De Pear (Apple Tree Yard, Flowers, Tin Star), the deal was struck by Cathryn Summerhaves, Amanda Davis, Jessica Cooper and Kat Buckle from literary agent Curtis Brown.

This is Going to Hurt gives a first-hand account of Kay’s life during the six years he spent as a junior doctor. The author – who has written for Mongrels and Mrs Brown’s Boys – has previously taken his experiences to the stage at the Edinburgh Festival and the Soho Theatre.

Sister Pictures has recently been commissioned by HBO in the US and Sky in the UK to produce a new programme focusing on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

The prodco was set up by former Kudos CEO Jane Featherstone in January 2016.