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Mark Thomas’s lockdown check-up

  • Series
Photograph of a man standing in a glass patio doorway with his mother, both are looking to camera. One of the doors is open. The man is slightly hunched forwards, eyebrows raised causing his brow to furrow. He looks a little 'long suffering'. His mother is peeping around the large glass patio doors, holding a walking stick in her right hand and the door frame in her left. She has a cheeky smile on her face. Either side of the patio doors is the brickwork of the back of the house.
Mark Thomas and his mother Margaret in lockdown. © Franklyn Rodgers for Wellcome Collection.

Comedian and activist Mark Thomas has moved back in with his mum for the duration of the pandemic. He’s 57 and she’s 85. He says she’s curmudgeonly; she says he’s the most aggravating person on the planet. In this six-part podcast, he reflects on their lockdown life together while investigating the wider impact of Covid-19. Every night, Mark calls health and care workers across the country for a chat. Humbling and often heartbreaking, these conversations reveal what life is like on the coronavirus front line.