"At the dawn of the Enlightenment, James Dyer is born unable to feel pain. A source of wonder and scientific curiosity as a child, he rises through the ranks of Georgian society to become a brilliant surgeon. Yet as a human being he fails, for he can no more feel love and compassion than pain. Until, en route to St Petersburg to inoculate the Empress Catherine against smallpox, he meets his nemesis and saviour."
"An 18th Century English surgeon is born immune to pain, making him oblivious to the suffering of others. This accounts for his professional success which attracts the attention of the Empress of Russia. On the way to treat her, he runs into a witch who gives him the sensation of pain. That sends him mad but he recovers, emerging from the asylum with the knowledge that without pain one is not really human."
"An 18th Century English surgeon is born immune to pain, making him oblivious to the suffering of others. This accounts for his professional success which attracts the attention of the Empress of Russia. On the way to treat her, he runs into a witch who gives him the sensation of pain. That sends him mad but he recovers, emerging from the asylum with the knowledge that without pain one is not really human."@en