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Breathtaking, ITV's three-parter medical show, co-written by Jed Mercurio of Line of Duty fame, is a gripping series that delves deep into the uncertainty and confusion faced by NHS doctors in the UK during the first six months of the COVID pandemic.
Set in a fictional hospital, the show follows Dr Abbey Henderson, a consultant in acute medicine, as she and her colleagues try to mitigate the pandemic amid widespread panic and government failings.
While the show received high praise from the public, it was not without its criticisms. Some viewers of the show took to social media to bash Breathtaking, with one individual calling it,
"ITV's absurd propaganda piece."
ITV's medical drama Breathtaking received mixed reviews on social media
According to The Guardian, Breathtaking highlighted the missteps, impossible decisions, stress, and undue responsibilities that fell on the shoulders of healthcare workers during the pandemic.
The three-parter showcased the chaos that surmounted during the initial days of the pandemic when supplies were running low and no proper rules were set in place.
The show was praised for portraying the gripping reality endured by medical professionals during COVID-19, but social media remained divided on its perception. While some called Breathtaking "extremely difficult" to watch due to its complex subject matter, others called it a "propaganda piece." Here are some of their reactions from X:
Breathtaking is an adaptation of a book by the same name
Breathtaking is an adaptation of palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke's memoir, adapted for TV by Jed Mercurio and Prasanna Puwanarajah, both former doctors. According to the Belfast Telegraph, Clark, a frontline staff during the pandemic, wanted people to feel the discomfort doctors were put through during COVID.
"They are going to find themselves feeling what we felt — our fear, our exhaustion, the claustrophobia, the discomfort of the PPE, the horror of what was happening to patients. All of a sudden, they’re going to find themselves plunged into that, and through feeling that story, what it was actually like for NHS frontline staff."
According to The Standard, the show did not mince words as it depicted the dire situation in hospitals during the pandemic, showing nurses intubating patients, calling families to tell them their loved ones died, and attending colleagues' funerals via Zoom.
The series also highlighted how the UK government responded to the pandemic, showing clips of UK PM Rishi Sunak advising that we all “eat out to help out” and Boris Johnson talking about shaking hands with COVID patients interspersed with the grim reality in the hospital filled with coughing patients.
Golden Globes-winning actress Joanne Froggatt is most known for her role as Anna Bates in the historical drama Downton Abbey. Appearing on The One Show, Froggatt claimed the show was “very much the story we don’t know.”
“So many of us were unaware of the extent of what our NHS workers went through and what our healthcare workers went through. The risks they were put under, their physical health and their mental health.”
Breathtaking's first episode aired on ITV on Monday. The last episode is slated to air on February 21, 2024.
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