Channel 5 Orders New One-Off Doc from Firecracker Films

Dr. Christian Jessen is returning to Channel 5 to front a brand-new one-off documentary, The Great British Urine Test: The National Health Check.

Alongside Dr. Amir Khan, Dr. Jessen aims to get a unique insight into the state of the nation’s health—using state-of-the-art tests that will decode the secret messages in urine. In order to carry out the National Health Check, the doctors placed “Pee Pods” in four major cities and invited members of the general public to participate. Samples taken in these pods were run through a series of tests that will be able to tell the doctors everything from how much people drink and what they’ve eaten, to how much air pollution they have absorbed.

The surprising results will show which city is drinking too much, which city can’t put down the fast food and which comes out the highest when it comes to drug-taking. Intervention programs will be prescribed to a number of “at-risk” participants, who we will revisit at the end of the program to see if their health has improved.

Elspeth O’Hare, creative director at Firecracker Scotland, commented: “It is extraordinary what we can now tell about our health and lifestyle from our pee; from early signs of cancer and markers for pollution to how much booze we’ve drunk and what we’ve eaten in the last week. We loved working with Dr. Christian Jessen and Dr. Amir Khan who used their expertise, empathy and humor to bring this ground-breaking science to life.”

Commissioning Editor for Channel 5 Dan Louw added: “I was shocked when I found out that we’ve all been flushing away a vital diagnostic tool that could stop us from getting ill. We laughed when we first thought about doing this show, but I’ve been genuinely inspired by the incredible science being done in this area which actually has the power to change the way we think about our bodies.”