ITV viewers were left seething tonight after they tuned in to the broadcaster's latest series Breathtaking – which takes a look at how the NHS staff were snowed under by the pandemic.
The three-part drama highlights the sacrifices made by NHS staff during the Covid pandemic, revealing the reality of working in a hospital in the face of momentous challenges.
ITV’s official synopsis for episode one reads: “As the rest of the world closes down, things only get tougher for hospital staff as patients come in with symptoms of an unfamiliar virus.
“Abbey (played by Joanne Froggatt) is forced to make difficult healthcare decisions as her colleagues begin to become infected with COVID-19.”
The dramatic retelling is based on Rachel Clarke’s personal memoir of the greatest public health crisis in living memory.
Titled Containment, it explores how the virus first came about and how the NHS was immediately thrown under the bus – blaming the Government for their lack of information and planning.
Breathtaking was slammed by viewers for being 'too soon'
ITV
However, minutes into the series, viewers were already complaining that it was “too soon” for the series to be aired, with some noting they weren’t even going to try and watch.
Taking to their social media accounts, one X user slammed: “I won’t be watching #Breathtaking not for any other reason that it’s too raw at present.”
“About to watch #Breathtaking on ITV and not sure I'm ready for how much it's gonna p**s me off (again),” another noted before a third expressed: “Too soon in my opinion, I feel for all the families who lost loved ones to Covid.”
A fourth watcher added: “This promises to be a traumatic and distressing watch!!”
The ITV series came after Rachel Clarke wrote her memoire
ITV
“Will be giving #BREATHTAKING a wide berth!” another penned before a fifth claimed: “It's 9pm and I have decided I can't face watching #BREATHTAKING - Why put myself through it all again?!”
However, not all viewers were against the series as one user praised: “Wow. This is a really hard watch. Excellent representation of what it was really like on the wards for us and the many thousands of patients who never got to ITU. No PPE, protected by a theatre mask, school science goggles &an apron I remember the bin bags.”
“Hats off to ITV on another incredibly powerful drama in #breathtaking. A tough watch but an important one. NHS is such a gift and the heroes that work there are incredible. Hope this helps bring the corrupt PPE makers and incompetent politicians to court,” another expressed. (sic)
Many ITV and BBC viewers have become fed up with the content which has been produced surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
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Breathtaking explores the coronavirus pandemic
ITV
Recent releases have included Help, set in a care home and stars Jodie Comer, as well as This England which focused on the way then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson handled his duties in 2020.
Palliative care nurse Rachel Clarke, who wrote the memoir which inspired the series, has said it is “dangerous” not to correct harmful messaging spread by some groups including that Covid was a mild illness, and lockdowns did more harm than good.
She told Metro: “We’re putting people’s health at risk, the second time around, as there will be another pandemic.”
