Improbable though it sounds, the RCS tonight have a screening of the anime ‘U-18 Knew’ inside their awesome Hunterian Museum. The film, by manga master Osamu Tezuka, is set in a world of futuristic, robotic surgery presided over by an antihero surgeon known as Black Jack.

After the screening, a panel of non-fictional, non-robotic surgeons and researchers will discuss the future of the scalpal-wielding automaton. It’s an impressive line-up.

Mr Declan Murphy, Consultant Urological Surgeon, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals

Dr Nick Oliver, Clinical Research Fellow, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College

Dr Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, Lecturer in Robotics, Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College

Chair: Richard Hollingham, author of ‘Blood and Guts’.

The event is free, starts at 6.30, and there’ll be a cash bar until 9pm. You can book in advance to be sure of getting in, although I’m told that (unless there’s a sudden swell in demand) you should be able to register on the door.

The Hunterian Museum is inside the Royal College of Surgeons at 35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields. This event supports their Sci-fi Surgery Exhibition.