Preneur World March 2024

Joanne Froggatt stars as an acute medicine
consultant in ITV’s Breathtaking, a moving
3-part drama that salutes frontline NHS staff
working through the Covid-19 Pandemic
ew
Available to watch on ITVX,
Breathtaking is a moving 3-part drama
starring Joanne Froggatt that follows
NHS medics during the Covid-19
pandemic. Weeks before the UK’s first
national lockdown, acute medicine
consultant Dr Abbey Henderson (played
by Froggatt) and her team struggle with
the first wave of Covid-19 patients.
Running out of PPE, staff, and beds,
Abbey is forced to make difficult
healthcare decisions as her colleagues
begin to be infected with Covid-19.
When lockdown is finally imposed,
the pandemic stretches Abbey and the
team to their limits as they confront
government policy in relation to care
home discharges and inadequate PPE.
They try their best to save patients
but are forced to endure the trauma of
loss and tragedy caused by Covid-19.
As winter arrives, a new wave hits the
hospital, this time with Covid-19 deniers
surfacing too, which causes the team to
reach their breaking point. Scarred and
enraged, Abbey cannot maintain her
silence any longer and decides to risk
everything by speaking out.
In this interview, Joanne Froggatt shares
insights into the poignant narrative
that pays homage to the unwavering
dedication of frontline workers during
the Covid-19 pandemic, offering viewers
a raw and unfiltered glimpse into the
tumultuous reality of hospital life amidst
unprecedented challenges.
P
Why did you want to be involved in
Breathtaking?
I had worked with our director
J Craig Viveiros before on Angela
Black and he approached me about
Breathtaking. It sounded an incredibly
important project to be a part of. Then
I was sent the scripts and they just blew
me away. They are some of the best
scripts I’ve ever read. Definitely in the
top percentage of great scripts I have
read in my time. So that obviously was
a huge factor. Just from a dramatic point
of view.
Reading the scripts I was very moved
and shocked. Also moved to be involved
in telling this story. I was shocked by
what was really going on behind the
closed doors of the hospitals here in
the UK. We’d had little insights, bits
and pieces we were told. But the story
the public was fed by the government
through the media is very different from
what was actually happening. And so I
was really shocked. I actually cried just
reading the scripts. I don’t think that’s
happened to me before. So it was a nobrainer
for me to be involved.
I’ve played roles that have tackled
sensitive subject matters before, such as
sexual assault and domestic abuse. It’s
important to tell stories about sensitive
subject matters and things people may
not have thought about or understood.
It’s a different way to get people to view
certain issues.
But what’s very different about this
is, this is a lived experience for the
entire world. Rather than it being a
lived experience for a group of people
who have lived it or who have had
loved ones that have lived it. We’ve all
had experience of this pandemic. The
weight of that responsibility does feel
great. But I don’t shy away from that
either. Because it is such an incredibly
important story to tell and I really
wanted to be a part of telling it.
P
How did you prepare before filming
started?
I did a lot of preparation. I started
J with reading the scripts and looking
up all of the medical terms so I
could get a broader sense of what was
what. Then I read Rachel Clarke’s book
Breathtaking and also her previous book
called Dear Life which was about her
experience as a palliative care doctor
before Covid. Rachel Clarke is an
extremely inspiring human being.
Her book Breathtaking just moved me
in a way that I can’t really explain. It’s
beyond words. The way Rachel writes in
both Breathtaking and Dear Life is just
PRENEUR WORLD 15