Duty of care

Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham star as a carer and a care-home resident whose lives are changed forever by the pandemic

- SEAN MARLAND

NEW DRAMA

Help Thursday, C4 HD, 9pm

Thousands of people lost loved ones when COVID-19 swept through Britain’s care homes last spring and now a powerful one-off drama takes us back to those dark days with a touching tale of love, loss and true friendship.

Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham lead a star-studded cast in Help, a feature-length drama about Sarah, a young carer at a fictional Liverpool care home, who forms a special connection with Tony, a middle-aged resident suffering from early onset dementia.

When the pandemic strikes in March 2020, Sarah and her colleagues are left poorly prepared and increasingly isolated by the powers that be – yet they fight tirelessly to protect their residents as the infections rise.

We caught up with the pair, both proud Liverpudlians, to find out more about the drama, which was created by BAFTA-winning screenwriter Jack Thorne…

You guys have been good friends for several years. What did it feel like to work together on something like this?