On the FRONT LINE

JOANNE FROGGATT on the importance of a drama taking us back to the early, dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic

- IAN MACEWAN

BREATHTAKING
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY, 9PM, ITV1  DRAMA (BOX SET, ITVX)

Earlier this year, the acclaimed ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office shone a long-overdue spotlight on the scandalous wrongful prosecution of sub-postmasters and postmistresses for theft, fraud and false accounting because of errors that were actually caused by a faulty IT system.

Now, immersive new series Breathtaking hopes its impact will similarly go beyond the screen and enact change in the real world as it recounts the shocking experiences of NHS staff on the front line during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the memoir of the same name by author Dr Rachel Clarke, the three-parter is co-written by Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio and actor Prasanna Puwanarajah (Payback), both of whom are former junior hospital doctors.

The drama sees Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt play mum-of-two Dr Abbey Henderson, an NHS medic in the eye of the storm witnessing chaotic and heartbreaking scenes as the (fictional) big-city hospital where she works fills up with acute COVID-19 cases.

Due to a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), and official guidelines that lag way behind the terrifying reality of what is actually happening on the ground, Abbey and her colleagues are forced to put themselves and their loved ones at risk from the deadly virus.