Virgin Media Television Announces New Docuseries
First Timers on the Frontline, Launching February 18

Thursday 5 February 2026: Virgin Media Television is proud to announce the launch of First Timers on the Frontline, a pulse‑pounding new four‑part docuseries arriving on Virgin Media PLAY and Virgin Media One on Wednesday February 18 at 9pm.
Embedded within Ireland’s National Ambulance Service, the series follows student, intern and newly qualified paramedics as they face real emergencies for the very first time. This is one of the most pressurised moments in frontline medicine – where training ends, responsibility begins, and every decision counts.

With unmatched access from the classroom to the ambulance cab, First Timers on the Frontline offers a rare, up‑close look at a new generation of paramedics learning on the job with support from advanced paramedics and senior members of the National Ambulance Service. There are no rehearsals, no retakes, and no room for hesitation. From medical collapses and traumatic injuries to vulnerable patients and end‑of‑life calls, every shift becomes a crash course in courage, resilience and critical decision‑making.

The series follows a diverse group of student and newly qualified paramedics from across Ireland, including Dublin-based first‑year trainee Rebecca Tuite and her mother Deirdre, who retrained in her late 40s; Mayo‑based Ryan Gaffney, one of the youngest in his cohort; Limerick intern Annemarie Woodage, whose path to paramedicine was shaped by personal loss; Swords‑based intern Aoife Landers, who brings nursing and NICU experience to the role; and Wexford intern Nathan O’Connor, a former EMT balancing fatherhood with demanding trauma cases. Together, their stories reveal the challenges, intensity, and humanity at the heart of frontline emergency care.

Filmed on the ground with emergency care teams across the country, the series captures the palpable intensity and emotional toll of life on the frontline. This is a high‑stakes baptism of fire for Ireland’s newest paramedics, as fresh‑faced trainees and newly qualified medics are thrust into the chaos of real emergencies. With lives hanging in the balance and no room for error, viewers will see the adrenaline, the pressure and the humanity at the core of emergency care – and the impact every call leaves behind.

Raw, immersive and emotionally charged, First Timers on the Frontline reveals what it truly takes to step up on the frontline, where the exams are real, the stakes are life and death, and every call leaves its mark.

First Timers on the Frontline is produced by Alleycats TV for Virgin Media Television and made with the support of Coimisiún na Meán’s Sound and Vision Scheme.

First Timers on the Frontline premieres Wednesday, February 18 at 9pm on Virgin Media PLAY and Virgin Media One.

Interview opportunities with featured paramedics are available on request. Please contact katie.genockey@virginmedia.ie for more information.