# Critical (2025)

> A six-episode Netflix documentary following London trauma surgeons, paramedics and nurses as they treat the most severely injured patients.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/173616

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 47 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: reality, documentary
- Network: Netflix
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33047063/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: sober, intimate, harrowing, clinical, urgent

## Synopsis

Critical: Between Life and Death (2025) is a British documentary docuseries created for Netflix, a six-episode limited series that observes London's major trauma centres. Its engine is the race against time that defines emergency medicine: paramedics bring in patients from critical incidents, and surgeons and nurses in the operating room must decide quickly what can be saved. Each episode, roughly 47 minutes long, moves between the ambulance bay, the resuscitation room and the operating theatre, following the clinicians and the patients whose injuries have changed their lives in minutes. The series is set in present-day London and spans a compressed stretch of 21 days, framed by its countdown of urgency. Its tone is sober, intimate and often harrowing, with an emphasis on the human cost of injury and the quiet competence of staff under pressure. Viewers who enjoy observational medical documentaries such as Trauma: Life in the ER and Hospital, or emergency response footage like Ambulance, will find the same unflinching access here. The approach is direct and observational rather than scripted, so it suits anyone drawn to real-world medicine, the stakes of emergency care and the testimony of people working at the edge.

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