The Public Reception to TV Drama as a COVID-19 Information Source

“Film and TV can offer nuanced perspectives on complex issues and emotions that are often hard to grasp through traditional information channels”.

As the most recent pandemic in history, COVID-19 had the unique position of being documented by some of the most accessible forms of technology and media. News stations, online articles and newspapers, social media, and websites were all invaluable in accelerating the spread of information related to COVID-19. However, although sources discussed the same topic, the information they contained varied immensely based on the source, intended audience, and objective of the communication, and consequently generated different public responses.¹

Breathtaking

One more unique example of a source of COVID-19 information was a UK television drama entitled Breathtaking. The drama aired on the 19^th of February 2024 and offered a perspective on the struggles of health practitioners at the height of the pandemic, including the high volumes of seriously ill patients entering the hospital, the grief, stress, and anxiety of the situation, the serious shortage of staff, and the lack of PPE and medical equipment. Originally published as a book by UK doctor Rachel Clarke, Breathtaking was then adapted as a drama by Clarke herself with former doctors Prasanna Puwanarajah and Jed Mercurio.² The drama generated much public debate and its assessment in the media emblematized much of the disparity of opinions on all matters COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.

Doctors as Sources of Trust?

Clarke’s background as an ex-journalist educated at the University of Oxford in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and then as a palliative care doctor herself who experienced the effects of the pandemic, means that Breathtaking is an informed representation of the working conditions and fears of many healthcare workers.³ Testimonies of doctors responding to Breathtaking confirmed her stories, with several articles containing accounts from practising doctors praising the representation of COVID-19 from the front lines in the hope that the drama would generate discussion of issues faced by the health sector—many of them stating that they thought it was important to remember and learn from the experience.⁴ Studies have even found that the most trusted sources of COVID-19 information were doctors and sources informed by doctors, such as government communications.⁵

But despite this largely positive response, some members of the public expressed intense disagreement on social media with the drama’s criticism of the government’s COVID-19 response. Many articles detail the social media backlash Clarke faced. She claimed that she received Tweets suggesting, “You’re the killer, not the virus” in addition to complaints of misrepresentation by some who claimed that hospitals were actually empty and that nurses were dedicating their time to TikTok.⁶ According to an article in the Daily Mail, titled ‘How the holier than thou doctor behind ITV’s new Covid drama is a Tory-hating activist who doesn’t always get her facts right’, Clarke had, on numerous occasions, attacked the Tory government in her advocacy for health service reform and the rights of medical professionals.⁷ Based on these articles, it is likely that much of the criticism targeted at Clarke was at least in part inspired by her long history of activism regarding the issues faced in the medical sector.

Familiarity, Emotional Stimulation, and Effective Activism

What’s interesting about this example, however, is the use of a TV drama as a source of public health information. I first came across the drama in my search for relevant information among COVID-directed media attention. It hadn’t occurred to me that people were already, in the midst of the pandemic, looking beyond report style news features and articles into other forms of media. The drama offers a unique visual representation of the COVID-19 front line in a way that is incredibly familiar and emotionally stimulating to the public.⁸

Film and TV can offer nuanced perspectives on complex issues and emotions that are often hard to grasp through traditional information channels.⁹ It is one thing to be told by your local newscaster that hospitals are overcrowded and their staff are struggling, but it is another thing entirely to see it with your own eyes, even in a more fictional setting, and be told, “Every single thing that happens in this drama happened in some shape or form to a real patient”.¹⁰

Some may question Clarke’s choice of a drama as a means of communication, but there is a rationale behind her decision. In terms of effective activism, film makes issues visible and thus memorable and real in the minds of the viewers. Studies have shown that using film as a tool for communicating health conditions increases both patients’ understanding and perceptions of the condition and its medical treatment.¹¹ However, findings also state that film can strengthen the existing perceptions of the viewer, both positive and negative.¹² This psychological response may be the reason why Clarke faced such backlash over the drama.

Overall, it is interesting to consider how many factors can affect the public’s response to information. As much as I observed both praise and vitriol in the disparity of responses to Breathtaking, it is clear that, during a pandemic, the way that a piece of information is delivered, its source, and even the existing perceptions of the audience can all influence its reception.

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Alexandria Vander Velde

Meet the Team: Alexandria Vander Velde

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1. Ali SH, Foreman J, Tozan Y, Capasso A, Jones AM, DiClemente RJ. Trends and Predictors of COVID-19 Information Sources and Their Relationship With Knowledge and Beliefs Related to the Pandemic: Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study JMIR Public Health Surveill 2020;6(4):e21071. doi: 10.2196/21071 ↩︎
2. Riordan T. Brilliant ITV drama took my breath away. Birmingham Post [Internet]. 2024 May 14 [Cited 2024 Jul 16]. Available from: https://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=EVEMAI0020240314ek3e0001r&drn=drn%3aarchive.newsarticle.EVEMAI0020240314ek3e0001r&cat=a&ep=ASE ↩︎
3. Whitworth D. ‘You deserve to hang’.. ‘You’re the killer, not the virus’: I saw the tweets’.  The Times [Internet]. 2024 Feb 21 [Cited 2024 Jul 16]. Available from: https://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=T000000020240221ek2l000d9&drn=drn%3aarchive.newsarticle.T000000020240221ek2l000d9&cat=a&ep=ASE ↩︎
4. Riordan T. See above; Manhar Patel D. Breathtaking shows the impact of the pandemic can’t be swept under the carpet. Yorkshire Post [Internet]. 2024 Feb 29 [Cited 2024 Jul 17]. Available from: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/breathtaking-shows-the-impact-of-the-pandemic-cant-be-swept-under-the-carpet-daxa-patel-4535626 ↩︎
5. Ali SH, Foreman J, Tozan Y, Capasso A, Jones AM, DiClemente RJ. Trends and Predictors of COVID-19 Information Sources and Their Relationship With Knowledge and Beliefs Related to the Pandemic: Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study JMIR Public Health Surveill 2020;6(4):e21071. doi: 10.2196/21071 ↩︎
6. Whitworth D., See above. ↩︎
7. Pierce A. How the holier than thou doctor behind ITV’s new Covid drama is a Tory-hating activist who doesn’t always get her facts right. Daily Mail [Internet]. 24 Feb 2024 [Cited 2024 Mar 17]. Available from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13118893/ANDREW-PIERCE-doctor-ITVs-Covid-drama-Tory-hating-activist.html; Whitworth D., See above. ↩︎
8. Chiong-Rivero H, Robers M, Martinez A, Manrique CP, Diaz A, Polito K, Vajdi B, Chan C, Burnett M, Delgado SR, Chinea A, McCauley JL, Amezcua L, & ARHMS investigators. Effectiveness of film as a health communication tool to improve perceptions and attitudes in multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis journal – experimental, translational and clinical, 2021;7(1), 2055217321995947. https://doi.org/10.1177/2055217321995947 ↩︎
9. Raina A. Cinema – a powerful tool of communication, Nirma University – Institute of Design (nirmauni.ac.in). [updated 2024; cited 2024 Jul 17]. Available from: https://design.nirmauni.ac.in/cinema-a-powerful-tool-of-communication/ ↩︎
10. Whitworth, D. See above. ↩︎
11. Chiong-Rivero H, et al. See above ↩︎
12. Kubrak T. Impact of Films: Changes in Young People’s Attitudes after Watching a Movie. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland). 2020 May 2 [cited 2024 Jul 17];0(5), 86. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs10050086 ↩︎