Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife

Dr. Paolo Macchiarini is world famous for his revolutionary stem cell-infused windpipe transplants. There's just one problem: His patients keep dying.

Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife (2023) is a British true crime documentary limited series created for Netflix. Across three episodes of roughly 53 minutes each, it follows Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, a world famous surgeon whose celebrated stem cell infused windpipe transplants repeatedly ended with his patients dying. The series builds its case through archive footage of the surgeon himself and on-camera recollections from journalist and former fiancée Benita Alexander, who speaks as herself and reflects on the whirlwind romance and the jet-setting image that surrounded him. Rather than a single crime, each episode traces how a dazzling public reputation kept the experiments going while the human cost piled up, examining the gap between polished credentials and the patients who trusted them. The atmosphere is sober and investigative, with a steady, unsparing tone that lets testimony and footage carry the weight. Viewers drawn to medical scandal documentaries, charismatic fraud stories, and true crime docuseries in the vein of The Dropout and Tiger King will find the same appetite for institutional accountability and the uncomfortable question of how a fraud stays celebrated for so long.

• Tiger Kingshared true crime docuseries format exposing a charismatic fraud and institutional failure
• The Dropoutshared true crime documentary tone around deception and harm in medicine and science
• Making a Murderershared documentary treatment of a charismatic deceiver whose victims were harmed

Release Date

2023-11-29

Episode runtime

53 min

Rating

7.2 / 10 (44)

What is Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife about?

A three-part Netflix documentary chronicling how celebrated surgeon Paolo Macchiarini's stem cell windpipe transplants left his patients dying.

What is Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife violent?

Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife as mild.

Which shows are like Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife?

Shows with a similar feel include Tiger King, The Dropout, and Making a Murderer.

How long is Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife?

Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife: 1 season, 3 episodes.

Is Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife still running?

No, Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife has ended.

Where can I watch Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife?

In United States, Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.