An ambitious and characteristically daring experiment for Channel 4 this week, as a series of serious surgeries are to be broadcast live through the channel over four consecutive evenings. If their past dalliances with controversy are anything to go by they’ll score a large audience simply by tapping into our inevitable morbid curiosity – we’ve all seen surgeries performed through countless medical documentaries, so surely the only real attraction for a ‘live’ performance is to gawp just in case it goes wrong?

Regardless, I’ll be watching (for pretty much all the reasons above, too) – and perhaps joining in, since they’re justifying their live broadcast on the surface through a level of interaction brought to life through twitter and facebook.  Viewers will be able to ask questions to the surgeons as they work, to gain unprecedented insight into the individual surgical processes.

Tuesday’s op might be a bit too far though – brain surgery on a conscious patient.  Whoever’s volunteered to climb on the camera-slab for that one has some real balls. It’s one thing to question a professional about his work in a live environment, but to involve the person with a chunk of brain exposed? That’s a little too much ‘live’ for my liking*.

Visit Surgery Live for programme details

*I’ll still be watching (shamelessly)