24 Hours in A&E (Channel 4, 9pm)

WHILE Casualty and Holby City might appeal to the more hypochondriac among us, there’s nothing quite like this enthralling look at the real life practitioners and patients in action at St George’s Hospital in south-west London.

In the first of the new series, the trauma team fight to save the life of a young woman after a horrific motorbike accident.

Dental nurse Kerry, 29, arrives from Essex by emergency air ambulance on the hospital’s new helipad as a “code red” patient. She was riding her motorbike when she lost control and crashed, completely severing her right leg below the knee.

Kerry’s grandparents, Dennis and Angie, received a phone call about the accident and were among the first people on the scene. “We got there and saw Kerry laying in the ditch,” says Dennis. “I see these two fellas running up and down the road. They didn’t know who I was and I said ‘Excuse me, what are you looking for?’ and he said ‘We’re looking for the young girl’s leg’.”

Due to the severity of her injuries, specialists from seven different departments have been called in to treat Kerry. Trauma consultant Jai is in charge. “When you say ‘code red’, you get a patient who’s lost a lot of blood and they are critically unwell,” he says. “If you cut off your lower limb, the worst thing that can happen is that they can lose the whole volume of blood and as a result your heart goes into cardiac arrest.”

The medics need to stabilise Kerry before they can send her for a CT scan to see if it’s possible to re-attach her leg. “Time is very critical when we are considering re-attachment of the leg,” says consultant Jai. “But the first priority is always life. Limb comes second after life.”

Meanwhile 11-year-old Luke is brought into the department after suffering a prolonged epileptic seizure. Luke has a form of complex epilepsy that has left him with severe learning difficulties. He has up to three seizures a week. While the paediatric team stabilises Luke, his mum and dad discuss their love for him and the challenges of living with Luke’s condition.

“Do I resent my son’s illness? No, absolutely not. Do I become jealous of parents who have ‘normal’ children? Without a doubt,” says Luke’s dad, Jack. “You’re different from other people, that’s the way it’s going to be, it’ll probably be that way for the rest of your life…it’s not even clear if he’s going to outlast me.”

Mum, Catherine adds:. “He’s such a delight, he’s so positive, he’s so much fun, he’s got a healthy stubbornness about himself – we’d like to wrap him in cotton wool and he refuses to let us do that.”

And 19-year-old Tina comes to A&E after stepping on a sewing needle which is stuck inside her foot. But she seems keener on taking advice from her mum in Bulgaria than from Mo, the doctor treating her.

Life Story (BBC1, 9pm)

In this second episode, Sir David Attenborough follows a tiger cub whose family is under threat, a vulnerable veined octopus and a pair of sibling cheetahs guarding against starvation, as he explains how the animals develop new skills and learn how to survive on their own.

My Grandfather Dylan (ITV, Regions Vary)

THIS year marks 100 years since the birth of Dylan Thomas. It's certainly not going unnoticed in his home town; in fact all over Wales, people are celebrating the poet and author of Under Milk Wood. He met wife Caitlin Macnamara while living in London, and it's no secret that the two shared an explosive relationship, said to be defined by alcohol. But his granddaughter Hannah Ellis feels the image of the roaring boyo with a cigarette in his hand is unfair, and should be replaced with the story of a dedicated craftsman, one who loved the Welsh countryside and sea towns.