19 February 2024 , 21:50
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ITV's latest drama has left viewers fuming as fans hope it "has the same impact" as Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Breathtaking launched on Monday night, as it follows the true story of frontline hospital consultant Abbey Henderson as she witnesses coronavirus take hold in her own hospital. The drama is based on writer Rachel Clarke's own experiences as a doctor working on the NHS frontline during the pandemic.
Joanne Froggatt is in the leading role, having played Anna Bates in Downton Abbey. Breathtaking is a three-part series and viewers soon took to social media to share their thoughts on the new show. The first episode showed how hospitals had to rapidly adapt to coronavirus coming to the UK alongside clips of real advice and conflicting guidance coming from the Conservative government.
Viewers were fuming as they saw how coronavirus unfolded in the hospital (ITV)Posting on X - formerly Twitter - one viewer said: "5 minutes in and am already angry." Another added: "Patients placed in cupboards, no oxygen, no emergency buzzer and it’s only started, well done @Conservatives health service decimated long before Covid took hold." Someone else commented: "Already shaking my head in disbelief and not beyond the credits yet."
A fourth wrote: "Crikey the state of our NHS hospitals weeks prior to lockdown! What a sad state of affairs #ToryChaos." A viewer added: "I can feel my blood starting to boil already. I wasn't sure if anger or sadness would hit me first #breathtaking," as someone said: "Already sworn 4 times and were only 10 minutes in." One pointed out: "Hope it has the same impact as the Post Office drama. Dreadful that we have to rely on drama to do the job mainstream news should be doing." Another echoed: "The rage I feel watching #BREATHTAKING this Tory government."
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Speaking before the show aired, Joanne said: “I feel truly honoured to be playing Dr Abbey Henderson in Breathtaking, based on Dr Rachel Clarke’s beautifully written, poignant and shocking book of the same name. When I first read the incredible scripts they moved me to tears on many occasions. I felt so passionately that I had to be a part of telling this story, the real story, of what was really happening behind the closed doors of the hospitals during the pandemic.”
Golden-Globe-winner Joanne added: “Our NHS staff are nothing less than absolute heroes in my eyes, and I hope telling this story goes a little way towards us understanding their truth, their lived experience and honouring their unbelievable commitment and sacrifice on behalf of us all.” Rachel's book inspired the series as she gave her own account of being a doctor in 2020.
The doctor and author added: “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.”