Operation Ouch!

Operation Ouch!
Created by	Chris van Tulleken Xand van Tulleken
Starring	Chris van Tulleken Xand van Tulleken Ronx İkharia Daniel Olaiya Raphael Olaiya Leanne Armitage Tosin Sotubo-Ajayi
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	14 + (1 special and 1 extra)
No. of episodes	161
Production
Executive producers	Simone Haywood (Maverick) Kez Margrie (CBBC)
Producers	Maverick Television Ian France
Running time	28 minutes
Production companies	Maverick Television (series 1–11) Objective Media Group Scotland (series 12–)
Original release
Network	CBBC BBC iPlayer (2026-)
Release	3 October 2012 (2012-10-03) – present

Operation Ouch! is a British comedy children's television series on the human body, showing what happens in A&E, the problems that doctors encounter and various medical experiments. The first series of Operation Ouch! aired on CBBC in October 2012 and ABC Australia in 2013. The show is hosted by twin brothers and doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken.

Since 2016 the program has a Dutch version, called Topdoks. In June 2019 the programme's production company, Maverick Television, announced that an American version was in development.

Overview

In order to educate children about medicine and biology, doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken perform experiments on the human body to see how they work and investigate medical treatments and technology. The doctors also offer "try this at home" experiments for viewers to participate in. In addition, they follow paediatric accident and emergency personnel and patients at Alder Hey Children's Hospital and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. The doctors also join West Midlands Ambulance Service and Midlands Air Ambulance rapid response teams on the road and in patients' homes as they assist with medical emergencies.

Production

The first series has 13 episodes, the first of which aired in October 2012 on CBBC. A second series began in September 2013 and consisted of 10 episodes. A fourth and fifth series was broadcast in 2016 on the CBBC channel in the UK. The seventh and eighth series were both broadcast on CBBC in 2019, introducing Ronx İkharia who later departed at the end of the thirteenth series. A ninth series began airing on CBBC in 2020 with the first episode focusing on COVID-19. The thirteenth series in 2025 introduced twin doctors Daniel and Raphael Olaiya as additional presenters, and with the premiere of the fourteenth series in February 2026, they were joined by doctors Leanne Armitage and Tosin Sotubo-Ajayi. The primary hosts, Chris and Xand van Tulleken, were trained in medicine at the University of Oxford, and both graduated in 2002. Chris is a practicing medical doctor while Xand focuses on research and teaching.

Episodes run for 28 minutes.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Operation Ouch! at BBC Online