ITV announce COVID-19 drama Breathtaking written by Line of Duty's Jed Mercurio
Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt will star
Last updated 26th Jul 2023
ITV have announced their upcoming drama, Breathtaking, is a 'searing, thought-provoking and poignant account' written by real-life NHS doctor Rachel Clarke 'in the eye of the storm' during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The drama stars Downtown Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt in the role of a frontline hospital consultant, and was adapted for television by Rachel herself along with Line of Duty’s Jed Mercurio - who was himself a former junior hospital doctor - and Prasanna Puwanarajah.
Set in a fictional big-city hospital, the drama narrates how frontline medical staff endured fear and frustration as they desperately tried to save the lives of coronavirus patients.
Jed Mercurio commented during filming: “Everyone at HTM Television has felt privileged to dramatise Rachel Clarke’s hauntingly illuminating memoir of health workers struggling to cope with the extraordinary challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"I’m honoured to have collaborated with Rachel and Prasanna on this important drama, and thrilled to be working with a cast led by Joanne Froggatt and crew led by director Craig Viveiros.”
Breathtaking is a three-part drama, produced in association with Northern Ireland Screen and filming took place in Belfast from April to May of this year.
Once filming wrapped, Joanne Froggatt commented: “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.
“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 Clarke said: "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."
When is Breathtaking going to air?
No date has been shared just yet, but we’ll keep you posted.
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