Why I let TV film the world's fattest man
 A documentary team followed surgeon Mr Shaw Somers for 18 months to create just a one-hour television programme on his work with a patient claimed to be The World's Fattest Man - Paul Mason. The positive results, he says, were well worth it.
HAVING WORKED closely with the production company Electric Sky on a series for the Discovery Channel called Fat Doctor, I am no stranger to the world of television documentaries.
The series followed the work of myself and my colleagues at St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, West Sussex, and the patients we treated over a number of series.
Two years ago, I was asked to meet with a man weighing 70 stone who had become known as the world's fattest man. Having seen the Fat Doctor series, 50-year-old Paul Mason was keen to take part in the show.
I mentioned our meeting to the producer I was working with at the time for Fat Doctor and, as Paul's story was so unique, she suggested that his weight-loss journey would work for a stand-alone documentary. The production company pitched the idea to Channel 4 and were given the green light for production.
We filmed for nearly 18 months - a massive amount of time for a one-hour documentary.
First and foremost, our main priority was about giving Paul the best possible care. This was decided on before any filming was arranged.
The filming very much slotted in around what we were already doing with Paul and this made it easy to manage. The production team also built a very close relationship with Paul, which meant that they could arrange times to interview and film him at a time convenient to him.
As with any surgeon, my consulting and operating schedules can be very hectic, but, as I had worked with the production team before, they were very understanding of my schedule and kept the amount of filming time to a minimum. They filmed the majority of the consultations and meetings I had with Paul as well as the surgery, which I, of course, would have been doing anyway, and then I had to commit to several other hours of filming in addition to talk about his case in more detail.
It is important for anyone that lets the cameras into their professional life to ensure that they balance their existing responsibilities with the filming commitments. My clinical colleagues were very supportive of the filming project and were extremely flexible and accommodating.
TV is a big commitment and you have to do it for the right reason. It is not about being famous; it is about taking the opportunity to highlight an issue that you feel strongly about. Paul's story was something I knew would ignite the obesity debate. For many people, they have just one view on obese people and I wanted to challenge this and get people talking about why people are obese and how we should be treating the condition.
The UK population is getting more obese every year and we need to wake up to this. Documentaries such as the one on Paul bring the issue to the front of the news agenda and get people talking.
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