Channel 5 Network 10 Team Up For Miniseries Breathless Starring Charlie Brooks Brett Tucker

Channel 5 has partnered with Australia’s Network 10 on a new four-part psychological thriller titled Breathless, marking another significant international co-production for the UK broadcaster.

The miniseries stars Charlie Brooks and Brett Tucker in lead roles, bringing together two performers with strong soap and drama credentials. Brooks is best known for her long-running role as Janine Butcher in EastEnders, while Tucker has appeared in internationally successful series including McLeod’s Daughters and Neighbours.

Breathless centres on a married British couple who relocate to Australia in search of a fresh start. What begins as an idyllic move quickly unravels as long-buried secrets, mistrust and psychological manipulation surface. The drama explores themes of identity, coercive control and the dangers of reinvention when trauma is left unresolved.

The series is positioned as a tense domestic thriller, with its narrative driven as much by character psychology as by external threat. Channel 5 has increasingly leaned into this genre, commissioning dramas that tap into everyday fears and emotional vulnerability rather than large-scale crime.

For Network 10, the partnership represents another step in its strategy to collaborate with international broadcasters to produce premium scripted content with global appeal. Australian locations provide a striking visual contrast to the darker themes at the heart of the story, using wide open landscapes to heighten the sense of isolation.

Production took place on location in Australia, with the setting playing a central role in the storytelling. The unfamiliar environment becomes a pressure point for the central characters, amplifying emotional strain and shifting power dynamics within their relationship.

Charlie Brooks’ casting signals a deliberate move by Channel 5 to align the project with recognisable UK talent capable of carrying emotionally intense material. Brooks has increasingly taken on dramatic roles that move beyond soap, and Breathless allows her to explore a more psychologically complex character.

Brett Tucker, meanwhile, brings experience of both UK and Australian productions, making him a natural fit for a cross-market series. His character is described as charismatic but deeply unreliable, with the truth about his motivations emerging slowly over the course of the drama.

Breathless is part of Channel 5’s broader effort to strengthen its original drama slate with tightly plotted, binge-friendly series. The network has found success with short-run thrillers that lend themselves to consecutive-night scheduling and catch-up viewing on My5.

The international co-production model also allows Channel 5 to manage costs while maintaining high production values, a strategy that has become increasingly important in the current broadcasting climate.

A premiere date has yet to be confirmed, but Breathless is expected to air as a prime-time event series on Channel 5, with Network 10 broadcasting the drama in Australia. The series is also expected to attract international distribution interest following its debut.