Professor Claire Smith
The ground-breaking documentary My Dead Body is to re-air on Channel 4 on Monday 9 October, 10 months after it first aired to much critical acclaim. Charting the life of Toni Crews, My Dead Body tells the story of Toni’s illness with cancer before and after her death, narrated in her own words.
The programme shows the dissection of her body during a series of educational workshops filmed with the Anatomy team at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), a joint venture between the Universities of Sussex and Brighton.
Since it first aired in December 2022, the story has captured the imagination of the mainstream media and public, with the show receiving three nominations in the BAFTAs, Royal Television Society and Grierson Awards, the latter of which will be announced in November. The Anatomy team were also awarded a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence award by Advance Higher Education in September 2023 for their educational role in the documentary.
Commenting on the impact of the documentary so far, Prof Claire Smith, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor Education and Innovation at the University of Sussex and Head of Anatomy at BSMS when the programme was filmed, said: “Toni’s wish was to educate people. More than 1.5 million viewed the documentary and 1,500 students have learnt from Toni in the laboratory. Evaluation found 95% of students felt more informed about the body and analysis of the public responses to the documentary demonstrated that whilst it was uncomfortable to watch its value was to remind us of life, our bodies, and our purpose. The piece continues to raise debate as to what public display is and the approach of anatomists and anatomy departments. We are delighted to have aided her wish.”
Diagnosed with a rare cancer of the tear gland in 2016, which led to her eye being removed, Toni discovered her cancer was terminal in 2020 and made the decision to continue to raise awareness of the disease – even after her death. She not only agreed to donate her body to medical science but also chose to give consent for it to be on public display.
By understanding exactly what caused Toni’s symptoms and building a timeline of how the cancer developed, this unique study will support decades of research for medical students and academics, with the aim of helping the lives of countless people for years to come.
She died in August 2020 at the age of 30, and in 2022 Toni became the first public display cadaver in the UK since records began 180 years ago, and the first British cadaver to be seen being dissected in such a way, for almost 200 years.
More than one thousand students from the Universities of Sussex and Brighton learned directly from the dissection sessions undertaken at BSMS. As well as medical and nursing students, this included neuroscientists, physiotherapists and mental health nurses. Each one of those will go on to treat tens of thousands of patients in their professional life.
My Dead Body will air at 10pm on Monday 9 October 2023 on Channel 4.
Find out more about the programme here.