BBC Thriller 'Trust Me' Is Rooted In These Important Scientific Facts

Set to head in an even darker direction than its already morbid first series, BBC1 drama Trust Me season two tells the story of a hospital where strange, unexplained tragedies keep happening. And all this makes for really disconcerting TV (in a good way). Its characters are at their most vulnerable — trapped in a hospital and bed bound due to illness or injury — when the medical staff, the people they have chosen to trust, begin to act very suspiciously. Before series two starts up, I want to know, is Trust Me based on a true story? Because I really, really need it not to be.

Landing on BBC1 at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16, series two of Trust Me will see the replacement of Jodie Whittaker as the star of the show with Harry Potter and How To Get Away With Murder's Alfred Enoch.

As per the BBC's official synopsis, the second series will take place on the neurological unit of Glasgow hospital. It'll star Enoch as injured soldier Corporal Jamie McCain. The synopsis reads:

"Recovering from a spinal injury which has left him temporarily paralysed, Jamie faces a new enemy as fellow patients on the ward die unexpectedly around him."

So far, so terrifying. But for the purpose of my sleep from hereon out, is series two of Trust Me based on a true story? Luckily, thanks to an interview in the Radio Times with one of the show's screenwriters Dan Sefton, I may just be able to sleep tonight. During the interview, Sefton seemed to reveal that the concept for season two was born more out of curiosity than anything else:

"I just thought it was really interesting idea to have someone who was previously really strong and fit and sort of physically defined themselves to become completely kind of broken and unable to do anything," he said.

However, the screenwriter did say that, during research for the second season, he spoke to patients suffering with conditions similar to Jamie's:

"One guy said he had to stare out of the same window for two months," Sefton told the Radio Times. "He couldn’t really see anything else, apart from his view. It’s not as much now, but everyone just had to lie flat. That was the treatment, for at least two months while the bones healed properly so he could start to do his rehabilitation. So he was just looking out this window. I thought, 'Wow. That must drive you mad.'"

While season two of Trust Me appears to only have a few elements of real life baked into its narrative, season one was a different story. When the show first launched, it focused on a women (Whittaker) who managed to convince people she was a doctor and weasel her way into the scrubs, despite having no training.

And, as Sefton revealed to the Express in 2017, Whittaker's role was based on some frightening true stories of untrained people pretending to be doctors. “This has been happening a lot, there have been several cases of people faking being a doctor over the past few years,” he told the newspaper. He added: “Often these doctors are very professional and get along very well with the colleagues, the only flaw is that they aren’t real doctors.”

Even if its second series isn't taking inspiration directly from true events, it's still guaranteed to leave you feeling shaken.

Series two of Trust Me begins on BBC1 at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16.