This is Going to Hurt: Viewers spot University of Sheffield Arts Tower in BBC medical drama

This is Going to Hurt debuted on February 8, and Sheffielders spotted the local landmark in the opening scene.

Ben Whishaw stars as Adam Kay, an overworked and stressed out doctor on a labour ward, who encounters a woman going into labour in the first scene of episode one.

Adam helps the woman, takes her into the hospital and walks her to a lift – when the Sheffield landmark appears. Adam and his patient enter the paternoster lift which is located in the University of Sheffield Arts Tower.

It is one of only two paternosters (continuously moving open lifts made of several compartments) in the UK, the other being in a London hospital.

The paternoster serves all 22 stories of the Arts Tower, which is the tallest academic building in the UK.

Adam comforts his patient whilst they are in the lift but when it comes time to step off onto their floor, she hesitates, worried about stumbling because the paternoster does not permanently stop.

As the lift continues its journey, Adam realises that the woman has suffered a cord prolapse and will need urgent medical attention. When the lift returns to the right floor, the patient again hesitates and Adam pushes her out of the lift.

The paternoster only makes a brief appearance in the show’s pilot, but many viewers spotted the lift that has become a rite of passage for students across Sheffield.

In an online forum discussing the show, one person wrote: “I didn't know that any paternoster lifts still existed because I would have thought that health and safety would have banned them by now. I remember being shown the lift when I went for an interview at Sheffield University in the 1960s (they seemed quite proud of it).”

Another wrote: “There was a paternoster lift in the main office building in my first job. I'd never heard of such a thing. I remember staring at it in complete disbelief.”

Episode one of This is Going to Hurt, based on the best-selling book by former doctor and author Adam Kay, is available to stream on BBC Iplayer now.