Natalie Cassidy Caring Together: A journey into care

Posted on 21 May 2026 • Education, languages and health, TV and radio

A new OU / BBC series, Natalie Cassidy: Caring Together begins Monday 25 May at 13:30 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Follow Natalie Cassidy as she returns to the classroom to study Health and Social Care, balancing family life and work while discovering purpose through compassion, people, and life’s toughest moments. Inspired by supporting her dad through end-of-life care at home, Natalie sets out to better understand the vital work of those across a sector that touches us all.

Natalie enrols as a student to begin her real-life journey towards becoming a professional carer. As she works towards a Level 3 qualification, she joins a group of students, while exploring what it truly means to care, and to be cared for.

The series was supported by Hilly Davies, Lecturer in Health and Social Care, Scott Preston, Staff Tutor, Health and Social Care and Sarah Brown, Lecturer in Children and Young People who provided the academic expertise for the programme.

On working on the programme, Scott Preston said:

The BBC/OU partnership has been an outstanding opportunity to contribute to the Open University’s wider mission. It has enabled collaboration with colleagues to showcase the breadth of educational pathways in care available to all, while highlighting the expertise and professionalism of those in caring roles across our communities. The series provides a compelling insight into caring careers from the earliest stages of life through to our final moments.

Hilly Davies added:

“Caring Together is storytelling at its best. It captures the compassion, challenges and emotions involved in caring and being cared for, while highlighting the many different roles and opportunities within health and social care, which can all begin with studying a health and social care course. Anyone interested in people, relationships and the realities of care should watch this programme. It is warm, honest and deeply human.”

Supporting Online content:

Visit our Broadcast & Partnerships site OU Connect and explore what a day in care might look like. Meet the residents, face real-life situations, and choose how you would respond in our interactive care home.

This series was commissioned by Broadcast & Partnerships and is supported by the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS), with particular relevance to R26 Health and Social Care, Q96 Healthcare and Health Sciences, R64 Public Health and Wellbeing, R39 Nursing, Q32 Social Work, QD Open Degree.

Commissioned by Dr Caroline Ogilvie, Director, Broadcast & Partnerships

• Academic Consultants: Hilly Davies, Scott Preston and Sarah Brown

• Media Fellow: Professor Erica Borgstrom

• Broadcast Project Manager: Laura Connor

• Supporting Online Content: Matthew Ray

Image Credit: Big Mountain Productions & BBC