The three-part ITV drama is based on Rachel Clarke\u2019s memoir of working as a doctor on the NHS frontline during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve welled up before, amazing scripts do hit you, but I was sat with tears streaming down my face at one point,\u201d she added. \u201cIt was so unbelievably affecting.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0a departure from the crime and mystery thrillers that have come to define Froggatt\u2019s career of late, such as Liar<\/a> and Angela Black<\/a> \u2013 both of which were written by Harry and Jack Williams<\/a>, who are renowned for their twisty-turny plots \u2013 and <\/span>of course her role as humble housemaid Anna Bates in international smash hit Downton Abbey.<\/p>\n But it was precisely that distinction that appealed to her.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen [director] Craig [<\/span>Viveiros, who also directed Angela Black] <\/span>called me about Breathtaking and said would you be interested, I was like, \u2018Yes, this sounds exactly like what I\u2019ve been waiting for.\u2019 I had this overwhelming urge to be a part of this story.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt felt so authentic and so truthful. <\/span>I was just like, \u2018Wow, this needs to be out there. We all need to know about it.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Froggatt leads the cast as<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>Dr Abbey Henderson, an acute medicine consultant who is <\/span><\/span>a \u201cfictional character\u201d. But the impossible conditions she\u2019s forced to work in during the outbreak will be intensely familiar to swathes of medical professionals, courtesy of meticulously researched writing by Clarke, Line of Duty\u2019s<\/a> Jed Mercurio and actor Prasanna Puwanarajah (The Crown<\/a>, Payback<\/a>) \u2013 both of whom also used to be doctors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cRachel herself and other medical advisors were on hand 24\/7,\u201d explained Froggatt. \u201cThey put us through a sort of medical bootcamp, and we had a team of ICU nurses that came in to advise as well. <\/span>They were integral to our performances.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The production design on Breathtaking is also so convincing that you truly believe you\u2019ve been catapulted into the midst of a hospital that is creaking at the seams as the demands of the pandemic grow with each passing moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe ethos was this has to be the most realistic portrayal of medicine we\u2019ve ever seen on television,\u201d said Froggatt. \u201cAnd t<\/span>here were so many times on set where me and the other cast members and crew just went, \u2018God, this feels so real, doesn\u2019t it? It just feels so real.\u2019 It really stopped you in your tracks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Joanne](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/Breathtaking-image-c90befb.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Breathtaking")
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