Breathtaking viewers admit they're struggling to watch the Covid drama that has left them 'furious and sobbing at the same time': 'I'm torn between pure anger and deep admiration'

Viewers of ITV drama Breathtaking, which illustrates the horrors NHS workers have endured during the pandemic, have admitted they struggle to watch the series.

Breathtaking follows Dr Abbey Henderson, a fictional character, but the powerful scripts are adapted from a memoir of the same name, written by NHS palliative care doctor Dr Rachel Clarke.

Terrifyingly realistic scenes in Tuesday's episode show doctors confronted with the disastrous Covid redundancy policy blamed for killing thousands of care home residents.

Under guidance designed to free up NHS beds ahead of an expected Covid surge, thousands of unswabbed hospital patients were discharged to care homes – despite potentially being infected.

Just days later, Dr. Henderson – played by Joanne Froggatt – is branded a 'murderer' by a woman whose father is the eleventh Covid case in the house since the infected patient was discharged. Seven of those residents died.

Later in the episode, in a scene that TV critics have described as 'so realistic it will break your heart', we see Dr. Henderson and her colleagues tearfully calling their colleague Divina's partner to break the news that palliative care is her only option.

In the first episode, which aired on Monday, young healthcare assistant Divina started showing signs of Covid while caring for patients.

She was exposed to Covid when hospital teams struggled to obtain enough PPE and were forced to make her own PPE from rubbish bags.

A few minutes later, Divina – of Spanish background – is taken to her own department after rapidly deteriorating. She is taken to intensive care and put into an induced coma.

After making the painful decision to turn off her ventilator, Dr. Henderson cries as she accompanies a nurse to Divina's room for the last time.

As each device is turned off one by one, a nurse reads heartbreaking messages of love to Divina, written by colleagues and family members.

It is the responsibility of Dr. Henderson to then share the news among the staff.

The beloved colleague's funeral, which was watched on Zoom by hospital staff, showed the reality of families who lost loved ones during the darkest period of the pandemic.

The breathtaking plot all unfolds through the eyes of Dr. Henderson in a fictional city hospital in England.

The latest episode, called Delaycovers the critical month of April 2020, weeks after the UK's first full lockdown.

When the second episode aired, viewers took to Twitter [now X] to share their thoughts on the pandemic drama and admit they struggled to watch it without 'sobbing and raging at the same time'

The comments read: 'Watching episode two of Breathtaking on ITV. Hard watch, really hard watch. So, so angry. The lies. So many bloody lies.

'This is hard to watch. Well done Breathtaking. The truth must be told.'

'The sadness and anger will never go away. I had to get up to say goodbye to my stepmother as the hearse drove past me because I wasn't allowed to attend the funeral.

“My greatest respect goes out to the doctors and nurses who made her feel comfortable during her end-of-life care.”

'Breathtaking has made me simultaneously rage at the government but burst into tears at the strength, adversity and courage of NHS staff at this terrible time.

'Wow, what a job this is. Just devastating.”

“Sobbed my way through episode two of Breathtaking. A few thoughts on how quickly we forget how awful things were and also how disgracefully NHS staff have been treated since they did all that. The clapping didn't last long, did it?

'Anyone who tries not to cry for the entire hour of Breathtaking. I only lasted five minutes and couldn't stop…'

'It's so sad to see this and bring back the sense of hopelessness that we NHS workers felt.'

“I haven't had this much anger after watching a TV show in a long time.”

'Watching Breathtaking makes me angry all over again.'

'Breathtaking is heartbreaking. The trauma these poor NHS staff must have. The NHS works at its best in war-like conditions. The crown jewels of our country. The government should be jailed.”

'Breathtaking and moving program brings back the pain and suffering of those forced to sit outside care homes while our loved ones died lonely, terrible deaths in government-ordered Covid-ravaged homes.'

“I feel angry when I watch Breathtaking – all the sacrifices that have been made and the lives that have been lost – it's just too much.”

'Harrowing, just harrowing.'

'A moving, well-acted series. I am torn between pure anger at our duplicitous, selfish government and deep admiration for the doctors and nurses, who work around the clock at great risk, with little government support.