''Ambulance'' is a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

series that follows the "life and death decisions on the frontline." The

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

format showcases their work "from

control room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is produc ...

s to the crews on the street." The first series aired from 27 September 2016, with the fourteenth series airing from 24 April 2025.

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1: London Ambulance Service (2016)

Series 2: West Midlands Ambulance Service (2017)

Series 3: West Midlands Ambulance Service (2018)

Series 4: North West Ambulance Service (2018–2019)

Series 5: North West Ambulance Service (2019–2020)

Series 5, again following the

North West Ambulance Service The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS) is the ambulance service for North West England. It is one of ten ambulance trusts providing England with Emergency medical services, and is part of the National Health Service, receiving direct ...

, was split into two parts: the six episodes aired in 2019 were filmed in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, and the six episodes shown in 2020 were filmed in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Series 6: London Ambulance Service (2020)

Series 7: North West Ambulance Service (2021)

Series 8: North West Ambulance Service (2021)

Series 9: North East Ambulance Service (2022)

Series 10: North East Ambulance Service (2022–23)

This series was split into two halves, with the first three episodes broadcast in October 2022. The series' last three episodes - which were originally planned to air in November 2022, were put on hold due to the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

tournament. It was then revealed during the 2022-23 festive season, that the remaining episodes from the series would resume broadcasting on Wednesday 4 January 2023.

Series 11: North West Ambulance Service (2023)

This series was filmed across

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

during the ongoing NHS strikes, affecting paramedics on the frontline and behind the picket line. The series began on 24 August 2023, for a six-week run, until 28 September 2023.

Series 12: North West Ambulance Service (2024)

The series began on 31 January 2024, for a six-week run until 20 March 2024. Due to scheduling conflicts regarding the 2024 Six Nations Championship, there were no episodes on 7 February 2024 and 28 February 2024.

Series 13: London Ambulance Service (2024)

Filmed in Spring 2024, the series was aired from 17 October 2024 until 21 November 2024, and follows crews of the London Ambulance Service.

Series 14: London Ambulance Service (2025)

Filmed in 2024, the series was aired from 24 April 2025. As with the previous series it again follows crews of the London Ambulance Service. Due to scheduling conflicts with the 80th anniversary celebrations of

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

and the second semi-final of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

there were no episodes on 8 May 2025 and 15 May 2025.

Reception

Michael Hogan, writing for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' gave the second series 4 stars, saying "All human life was here. We witnessed birth, death and resurrection in the space of just two shifts. It sure beats ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

''".

Awards and nominations

In 2018, ''Ambulance'' won its first major award, the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

for the best factual series or strand.

International versions

'' Ambulance Australia'' screens on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

in Australia. The first series of ''Ambulance'' (אמבולנס), was aired on

Reshet Reshet (, ''lit.'' "Network") is an Israeli television broadcasting and production company. It was one of the two concessionaires running the Israeli commercial television channel, Channel 2 from 1993 to 2017, and is running channel 13 alongsi ...

in Israel during 2018.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambulance (Tv Programme 2016 British television series debuts 2010s British documentary television series 2010s British medical television series 2020s British documentary television series 2020s British medical television series BBC television documentaries Documentary television series about emergency services Television series by Banijay British English-language television shows