You're tuned to the good stuff
Brain Surgeon
The setup
The premise
Here’s the bit.
At a friend's drinks party, Lionel cannot stop steering the small talk back to his career, waving away other guests' parking, tax returns and charity work as trivial next to his own and correcting anyone who calls him a mere doctor. Then the hostess welcomes late arrival Geoff, held up at the space centre. When Lionel finally gets to tell the quiet rocket scientist what he does for a living, Geoff lets the pause hang before turning the familiar comparison back on him.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 5
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Not a doctor. I'm a brain surgeon. Big difference.
I mean, it's not exactly brain surgery, is it? Which, as a brain surgeon, is what I do.
Brain surgery? Not exactly rocket science, is it?
Behind the scenes
The people who made it.

Jesse Armstrong
Writer

Sam Bain
Writer

Ben Gosling Fuller
Director

Gareth Edwards
Producer
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:00
Hostess
Lionel, glad you could make it. Can I get you a drink?
- 00:02
Lionel
Yeah, something soft. I'm driving. Parking's an absolute nightmare around here, isn't it? I have to reverse into the tiniest of spaces. Still, I managed it. I mean, parking's not exactly brain surgery, is it? And I should know.
- 00:18
Accountant
Why is that? Are you a doctor?
- 00:20
Lionel
Careful. Not a doctor. I'm a brain surgeon. Big difference. Big difference.
- 00:25
Lionel
Yeah, I actually know a joke about this. What's the difference between a doctor and a brain surgeon?
- 00:29
Lionel
one's not exactly brain surgery the other is brain surgery
- 00:34
Lionel
so what do you guys do
- 00:39
Accountant
I'm an accountant
- 00:40
Lionel
oh that's good yeah I could do with an accountant filling in those tax forms and get really confusing can't it
- 00:47
Lionel
still it's not exactly brain surgery I mean brain surgery believe me is very complex
- 00:57
Lionel
are Are you an accountant, too?
- 00:59
Charity Worker
No, I work for a charity.
- 01:01
Lionel
Oh, that's a very selfless job, isn't it? I really admire you. I don't think I could ever do what you do.
- 01:08
Lionel
I say that because it's emotionally draining, not because it's hard.
- 01:12
Lionel
I mean, it's not exactly brain surgery, is it? Which, as a brain surgeon, is what I do.
- 01:20
Hostess
Lionel, here's your drink. Lionel's a brain surgeon, you know.
- 01:24
Charity Worker
Yeah, he mentioned it.
- 01:26
Hostess
Jeff, they keep you late at the Space Centre.
- 01:30
Geoff
As always, then.
- 01:33
Hostess
Have you met Lionel?
- 01:35
Geoff
No, hello, Lionel.
- 01:36
Lionel
So, Geoff, how do you earn a crust?
- 01:38
Geoff
Oh, I'm a scientist. I work mainly with rockets. It's pretty tough work. What do you do?
- 01:46
Lionel
Well, I don't mean to boast, but I'm a brain surgeon.
- 01:51
Geoff
Brain surgery? Not exactly brain surgery. Not exactly rocket science, is it?
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
More from across the archive.










