Episode 5: Stress tests

In this six-part podcast Mark Thomas reflects on lockdown life with his elderly mum 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.

After five long months, Mark Thomas is moving out of his mum's and looking ahead. In the final episode of his coronavirus podcast, Mark asks his nightly network of health and care workers how they're feeling about the future. They share their hopes and fears as autumn approaches, talking candidly about everything from promising new treatments and technology, to mental health crises, second surges, capacity and space.

The last few months have been an emotional rollercoaster for us all, Mark Thomas and his mum included. But things have been especially hard for health workers. The pressure of the pandemic has left many feeling angry, exhausted and afraid. In the fifth episode of his lockdown podcast, Mark considers coping and resilience, talking to health workers about how they're weathering a storm like coronavirus.

Isolation has helped slow the spread of COVID-19, but it's left many of us aching for company. In the fourth episode of his podcast, health workers open up to Mark Thomas about the loneliness of lockdown. Mark, meanwhile, reveals he has ballet danced through his darkest days, much to his mum's dismay.

Coronavirus has made conversation complicated. It also means there are lots of difficult things that need to be said. In the third episode of his lockdown podcast, Mark Thomas talks to health workers about communication. Mark's mum, meanwhile, cheerfully contemplates her own demise.

COVID-19 has left us all feeling exposed, Mark Thomas and his mum Margaret included. In the second episode of his coronavirus podcast, Mark calls frontline health and care workers to chat about PPE, vulnerability and the urge to protect. His mum, meanwhile, shares a novel use for gin.

Spending lockdown in a small flat with his elderly mum has pushed comedian Mark Thomas to reflect on their sometimes stormy relationship. It's also made him want to find out more about COVID-19. In the first of six podcasts, Mark calls frontline health workers to chat about coronavirus, end-of-life care and the importance of touch.