When the last public autopsy was performed in Britain, the viewing figures were limited to a handful of onlookers.
When Channel 4 broadcast an autopsy 170 years later on 20 November 2002, it was open to anyone with access to a television.
Carried out by the be-hatted and slightly sinister Professor Gunther Von Hagens, the procedure drew a flood of complainants, who argued that, despite the late showing time (the autopsy itself was not shown until after midnight), this was one step too far.
Before a sold-out audience of five hundred people – plus anyone sad enough to tune in – Von Hagens, curator of an exhibition of preserved corpses at the Atlantis Gallery in east London, operated on a 72-year-old who had dedicated his body to art.
Despite the complaints, the Independent Television Commission argued that the show was not overly explicit and did not break broadcasting rules, although Scotland Yard had warned beforehand that it could be illegal.
The autopsy was attended by officers from the Metropolitan Police, but they did not intervene, and the dissection was performed in full.
In the end, the broadcast – which was preceded by a debate about the issues – was relatively tame, if a little gory. And Von Hagens, while certainly showmanlike, conducted the autopsy itself with dignity.
As the body was dissected, Channel 4 claimed that it was part of its dedication to public-service broadcasting, calling it ‘an important event of genuine public interest’.
Von Hagens returned to the subject in 2006 with a four-part series called Autopsy: Life and Death, and in 2007 with Autopsy: Emergency Room.
Before a sold-out audience of five hundred people – plus anyone sad enough to tune in – Von Hagens, curator of an exhibition of preserved corpses at the Atlantis Gallery in east London, operated on a 72-year-old who had dedicated his body to art.
