Isolation Stories, UTV, Monday to Thursday at 9pm
ITV’s response to making drama during the coronavirus lockdown looks like a pointer to the future in a number of ways.
It’s a thoughtful response to the pandemic and the first set of dramas to reflect the reality of people’s lives.
The soaps, remember, have halted filming and are still dripping out episodes marooned in a time and way of life before the great crisis.
ITV, with impressive speed, got scripts written, actors signed up and production completed within six weeks.
What we would probably have called one-room plays, were filmed with the help of previously untrained family members and directed remotely.
To that end their scope is limited and the mood a little bleak.
The pick of them was Tuesday’s 15-minute episode, Ron and Russell, the story of a dad and his son coping with the virus.
The dad Ron (Robert Glenister) has recently lost his wife, is suffering from the early stages of dementia and has been infected by the virus.
His son Russell (played by his real son, Tom Glenister) is the only one left at home to care for him. They have a difficult relationship after Tom got addicted to drugs and stole from the family home.
While Tom appears to have recovered from his addiction, his dad is not ready to forgive his transgressions.
It was convincingly acted and a touching study of a father/son relationship. At one stage Russell helped his dad into the shower while wearing washing up gloves and a tea towel covering his mouth.
The best bit was when Russell used the Thursday 8pm NHS clap to his advantage, telling his bed bound dad that he had asked all the neighbours to do something for him on his birthday to give him a lift.
Russell was our hero, doing his best for his difficult dad and we felt sorry for him when his father continued to call him a thief.
Only near the end did we see the errant son return his dad’s wallet to his trousers under the bed.
And just as Ron started to improve, Russell produced the tell-tale dry cough.
Isolation Stories may well be the kind of small-scale drama ahead for ITV. The broadcasting group this week announced a 42 per cent fall in advertising revenues.
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QB1, Netflix
For those of you starved of sport for the last seven weeks, I can recommend an observational documentary on Netflix.
QB1 may be around for a little while, but it was new to me after I found it in the bowels of the streaming service while looking for something sports related.
It follows the progress of three high school quarterbacks as they pursue a career in American football.
But don't watch it just for the sporting action, it’s also a study on American life.
It’s my ignorance here, but I couldn’t believe how significant high school football is. The leading players are stars, get asked for their autographs in the street and get interviewed on radio and TV channels.
The bigger games are live on television and teams have full-time coaching rosters and all the technical back-up and analysis you would expect of a professional team.
The other striking thing is the importance of faith. Perhaps it was the geographical location of the selected high schools but each team had spiritual guidance and appeared to truly believe.
When one school won, the multitudes of the team ran to one corner of the pitch, bouncing up and down in celebration. I couldn’t make out what they were chanting until the camera got closer. “Thank you … God! Thank you … God!”
