Hot on the heels of ITV’s last true life drama sensation, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, comes Breathtaking, a three-parter depicting the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in the NHS. It premiered in February in the UK.
You can watch Breathtaking for FREE in the UK on the ITVX streaming service and in New Zealand on TVNZ+. But don't worry if you're away from home because you can watch Breathtaking on ITVX or TVNZ+ from anywhere with a VPN.
UK: ITVX (free with licence fee)
NZ: TVNZ+ (free)
AU: TBC
US: TBC
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
Downton Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt stars as Dr Abbey Henderson, a fictionalised version of Dr Rachel Clarke, who wrote the memoir on which Breathtaking is based before co-writing the TV adaptation.
The medical drama looked at the first wave of the 2020 pandemic, starting pre-lockdown as the first cases of Covid-19 begin to surface. As the virus starts to spread through both Abbey’s team and nationally, the NHS staff are pushed to breaking point as a result of government policy around care homes and inadequate PPE.
Alongside Clarke, the harrowing true story is co-written by Prasanna Puwanarajah and Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio, both former junior doctors themselves, with Mercurio also behind some of British TVs biggest medical dramas including Bodies and Critical.
A moving portrayal of the first year of the pandemic, the drama might just be one of the most important TV events of the year. Here's how to watch Breathtaking online and from anywhere. We've got all the information you'll need below.
How to watch Breathtaking in the UK
How to watch Breathtaking in New Zealand
The full series of Breathtaking is available for viewers in New Zealand on the free TVNZ+ streaming service. Just head to the website or app and stream away.
If you're a Kiwi abroad looking to stream the medical drama, you can download a VPN to port you back to NZ and watch that way. Full details on how to do that just below.
Can I watch Breathtaking in Australia?
There's no word just yet on when Breathtaking will air in Australia, however Channel 7 and its streamer 7plus often get the big ITV dramas, including the recently added Mr Bates vs The Post Office, so keep an eye out there.
If you're a Brit travelling Down Under, you can download a VPN to access your usual streamer and watch that way. Full details on how to do that just below.
Can I watch Breathtaking in the US?
Sadly there's no news of Breathtaking airing in the States at present. We'd expect to find a home on either PBS or BritBox
If you're a British or New Zealand viewer travelling in the US and want to stream the new drama, good news, you can use a VPN to watch the series just like you would at home. Full details below.
How to watch Breathtaking with a VPN
You can watch Breathtaking on ITVX by using a VPN – no matter where you are in the world!
Normally a streaming service will know where you are trying to tune in from and block you if you're not in the right country but a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an app that hides your location. That means you can access your usual sports and entertainment services even while you're traveling abroad.
To save you spinning around the web looking, our favorite VPN is ExpressVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar. You can read more about the best VPN services on TechRadar.
- Download the app at ExpressVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
Breathtaking trailer
Breathtaking episode guide
- Episode 1 – Monday, February 19
- Episode 2 – Tuesday, February 20
- Episode 3 – Wednesday, February 21
All you need to know about Breathtaking
Who is in the cast of Breathtaking?
- Joanne Froggatt as Dr Abbey Henderson
- Bhav Joshi as Dr Ant Vyas
- Donna Banya as Emma Mutamba Irungu
- Joseph Charles as Archie Williams
- Stephanie Street as Dr Joanne Alba
- Thom Petty as Dr Neil Westland
- Naomi Denny as Chantelle Gregory
- Afro Parise as Dr Rossi
- Phillip Arditti as Dr Metin Ozkul
- Tamer Doghem as Yussuf Ahmad
- Lucy Montgomery as Clare Boxall
- Stacey Gtegg as HCA June
- Roxanna Scrimshaw as Mrs Ahmad
- George Georgiou as Dr Huw Shelby
- Georgia Goodman as Divina Aquino
- Christopher Hatherall as Nick Henderson
- Henry Meredith as Tommy Henderson
- Mark Dexter as Dr Mike Prentiss
- Tammy Heath as Alison Frampton
- Mary Woodvine as Cressida Frost
- Eleanore-Beatriz Viveiros as Robyn Henderson
What can we expect from Breathtaking?
The official synopsis from ITV reads: "Weeks before the UK’s first national lockdown, acute medicine consultant Dr Abbey Henderson 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."
Speaking to the RMBF, Dr. Rachel Clarke says: "I feel it’s an opportunity to tell the story on screen, to help the public understand what NHS staff went through and how scarring the experience was.
NHS staff were exposed to a disease that could kill them, and many did get infected and die. It’s scandalous when you reflect back on the PPE situation, how there wasn’t enough, or how staff were told they were safe when they were issued with substandard PPE. I hope the series shines a light on that. It needs to be addressed – if we don’t, what will happen in the next pandemic?"
Is Breathtaking based on a book?
Breathtaking is based on the book of the same name by Dr. Rachel Clarke. The book is part memoir, charting the doctor's own experience during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also looks at the broader impact, featuring interviews with colleagues, patients and their families.
What else has Jed Mercurio been involved in?
Co-writing Breathtaking with Clarke herself and Prasanna Puwanarajah, Mercurio is no stranger to medical drama having created and written Cardiac Arrest, Bodies and Critical. He's also the man behind some of British TV's biggest action/thrillers as the creator of Line of Duty and Bodyguard and executive producer of Trigger Point.
