8 Episodes · Premiered October 8, 2025 · Ended November 26, 2025
Documentary following life at Liverpool's Walton Centre for neurology and neurosurgery, beginning with a patient who must faces brain surgery while awake.
Fifty-eight-year-old Rachel has been rushed in after collapsing at a nearby A&E department, with a bleed on the brain. She needs urgent help as she has a ruptured brain aneurysm. Father of three Scott is losing feeling and function in his legs, and without surgery he could face paralysis. Surgeons must act fast to remove a tumour that is sitting on his spinal cord.
A woman arrives in a critical condition after a devatsating stroke. Meanwhile, surgeons must remove a tumour in 42-year-old Dayan's neck; without surgery he could face paralysis.
31-year-old Katelyn undergoes cutting edge laser surgery to tackle her epilepsy and 61-year-old Jackie is losing feeling and function in her arms and legs; without surgery she faces paralysis.
Sixty-three-year-old Andrew is rushed in for urgent brain surgery to remove a tumour from the right side of his brain. Fifty-two-year-old Sarah undergoes a brain implant procedure in the hope of ending decades of excruciating cluster headaches. Also, 77-year-old Chris needs an operation to drill away the extra bone growth on his cervical spine.
Surgeons race to remove a life-threatening brain mass from 34-year-old Milton, operate on Annie's spinal tumour to prevent paralysis, and perform complex keyhole surgery on Rob's spine.
Sixty-four-year-old Bruce is rushed in with a broken back, and to make matters worse, a rare condition has fused his spine into a brittle, candle-like bone. Patient Keith is a medical mystery - his legs are failing, but scans reveal more questions than answers. Also, 62-year-old Linda faces an awake craniotomy to remove an aggressive brain tumour lying millimetres from the area that controls speech.
Daniel is rushed to hospital with a life-threatening blood clot on the brain and undergoes emergency surgery to relieve the dangerous swelling - with part of his skull removed. An 81-year-old is faces an urgent surgery to remove a cluster of abnormal blood vessels on his spinal cord. Also, 66-year-old Andrew is undergoing a procedure designed to reduce his debilitating Essential Tremors.