Skip to content

Visit Your Local PBS Station PBS Home PBS Home Programs A-Z TV Schedules Watch Video Support PBS Shop PBS Search PBS

Additional Video

Your Life in Their Hands

In this excerpt from the 2004 BBC documentary Your Life in Their Hands, physician Henry Marsh performs surgery to remove a life-threatening tumor from a patient's brain.

Interview with Dr. Henry Marsh

Dr. Marsh talks about the challenges of neurosurgery, how he began working with Igor and more.

Film Update

Dr. Henry Marsh gives an update on the situation in the Ukraine, his friend Igor and more.

  • Updated on October 13, 2009

Filmmaker

Geoffrey Smith

Geoffrey Smith

view interview »

He is firstly an artist and then a surgeon. He’s willing to look at surgery and surgeons. He’s prepared to be vulnerable ... He’s the very opposite of the arrogant, repressed surgical model.”

— Filmmaker Geoffrey Smith in Time Out London

Film Update

Critical Acclaim

Astonishing. . . . [An] unexpectedly effective and often affecting documentary. . . . These men perform miracles, but they are also agonizingly human.”

— Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

[T]his is one extraordinary documentary, approaching hugely emotive subject matter with nimble delicacy and...steely reserve...A life-affirming, unforgettable portrait of a true humanitarian...”

Time Out London

So why see such a difficult film? For the same reason Smith made it: There is great beauty in watching one heroic soul insist that he can improve upon a cruel and complex world.”

— Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

…a lovely film, the best documentary for a long time.”

The Guardian

Upcoming Films

A Co-Presentation of

Logo: ITVS