BBC Two, 2019

WAR IN THE BLOOD

An intimate, feature-length documentary following two patients through ground-breaking ‘first in-human’ trials for CAR T-cell therapy, a treatment described as the beginning of the end of cancer.

Not allowed to meet and separated by two floors of a hospital, 53-year-old Graham and 18- year old-Mahmoud are nevertheless bound together by their commitment to the treatment and their faith in the science. For Martin Pule, the scientist who has developed the treatment, the responsibility of curing patients is both exciting and daunting. He knows he stands on the cusp of a breakthrough that could radically change the way we treat cancer.

At the heart of this film is the complex relationship between the patients and the clinical team. How much hope can the patients be given when they are effectively going into these trials as human guinea pigs? The patients and clinical team must weigh up hope with realism. Their response is a profound and revealing reflection of the human condition.

A film about love, hope and the tempering of both with realism… Lives and cells were taken apart and put back together in different forms.

The Guardian

A film almost too gruelling to bear at times... left us heartbroken

The Daily Mail

A powerful, gut-punching tribute to both the scientists and patients testing new cancer drugs

The Telegraph

Gripping from start to finish

Independent
FILMED / PRODUCED / DIRECTED BY

Arthur Cary

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Morgan Matthews

FILM EDITOR

Ben Brown

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Saskia Rusher

COMPOSER

Andrew Phillips

PRODUCTION MANAGERS

Poppy Ansell
Patricia Burns