NORTHERN IRELAND-SHOT COVID-19 DRAMA, BREATHTAKING TO AIR 19TH FEB ON ITV
Date Posted: February 15, 2024
HTM Television’s BREATHTAKING starts Monday 19th February at 9pm on ITV and ITVX, continuing across 3 consecutive nights.
Filming of the three-part series was completed in Belfast, Northern Ireland and was produced in association with Northern Ireland Screen.
The series is produced by Jed Mercurio’s independent production company, HTM Television, which has been responsible for producing Trigger Point, DI Ray, Bloodlands and the BAFTA-nominated factual drama Stephen.
A searing, thought-provoking and poignant account of an NHS doctor in the eye of the storm during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Breathtaking was written Written and Executive Produced by Rachel Clarke, Jed Mercurio, and Prasanna Puwanarajah, Produced by Brian J. Falconer, and Directed by Craig Viveiros.
In the lead-up to the UK’s first Covid-19 national lockdown, acute medicine consultant Dr Abbey Henderson (Joanne Froggatt) and NHS staff struggle to cope with the rising number of Covid-19 patients as the disease ravishes the ward. A mother of two small children known for her calm approach in a crisis, Abbey witnesses first-hand the virus begins to take hold, overwhelming the NHS and creating conditions of unprecedented adversity. Running out of tests, unable to use PPE, and with staff beginning to get sick, Abbey, fellow consultant Ant (Bhav Joshi), junior doctor Emma (Donna Banya) and the team must adapt quickly to stop the spread. However, unclear, everchanging government guidelines force them to make difficult healthcare decisions with devastating consequences.
The drama is based on Rachel Clarke’s experiences as a doctor working on the NHS frontline during the pandemic. Rachel is an author of three Sunday Times bestselling books of which Dear Life was shortlisted for the 2020 Costa Biography Award.
Commented Rachel Clarke: “There is so much misinformation and rewriting of history around what really happened inside our hospitals during the pandemic. The truth is, NHS staff gave everything they had in impossible conditions that sometimes cost them their lives. It is an honour to try and depict the courage and decency of my NHS colleagues on screen, and I’m so grateful to ITV and HTM Television for giving me the chance to show the public the truth.”
Against a backdrop of news footage from the early months of 2020, the drama will follow Abbey in her daily work whilst weaving together the stories of her fellow doctors, nurses, patients and paramedics whose ambulances were queued outside hospitals as the NHS tried to cope with a tsunami of devastating cases. All human life is present, and in parts, it’s an uplifting account of resilience and fortitude.
Breathtaking is produced in association with and distributed internationally by ITV Studios.
