First look at Help starring Liverpool icons Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham

Channel 4 has today released the first look at Help, a new 1×120’ drama from the BAFTA award-winning writer Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials, National Treasure) and BAFTA award-winning director Marc Munden (The Third Day, Utopia) starring Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Doctor Foster) and Stephen Graham (Save Me, This is England) and produced by The Forge in association with One Shoe Films with funding and support from Liverpool Film Office through its Liverpool City Region Production Fund.

Help, set in a fictional Liverpool care home, tells the moving story of the relationship between a young care home worker (Comer) and a patient (Graham), whose lives are changed forever by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020.

Sarah (Jodie Comer) is smart, but she’s never fitted in, not in education and not in work. Her family told her she’d never amount to anything but she unexpectedly finds her calling as a carer at Bright Sky Homes. Sarah has a special talent for connecting with the residents, including one in particular, 47-year-old Tony (Stephen Graham ). Tony’s Young Onset Alzheimer’s has left him living out his days in care as his mind slowly deteriorates. His illness causes periods of confusion and violent outbursts, which the other members of staff can’t handle, but with Sarah he begins to build a real bond. Sarah’s success at managing Tony and the other patients helps build her confidence and restore her self-belief.

Then March 2020 hits and everything Sarah has achieved is thrown into doubt with the arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic. She and her colleagues tirelessly fight tooth and nail, ill-equipped, poorly prepared, and seemingly left helpless by the powers that be. A determined Sarah goes to extraordinary lengths to protect those in her care, whose conditions make their suffering and isolation all the more traumatic. But the staff’s unwavering commitment, compassion and heroic efforts can only do so much, and Sarah is pushed into a dark corner and desperately looks for a way out.

Help is coming soon to Channel 4 and All 4, and more details can be found on our website here.

Help is Executive Produced by George Faber (Roadkill, The Accident), Beth Willis (Doctor Who), Jack Thorne, Marc Munden, Stephen Graham and Jodie Comer with Jenny Frayn (The End of the F*cking World S2) producing. It will be produced by The Forge (Roadkill, National Treasure, Kiri, The Accident, Ackley Bridge) in association with One Shoe Films, for Channel 4 and has been commissioned by Channel 4’s Head of Drama, Caroline Hollick. Help will receive funding and support from Liverpool Film Office through its Liverpool City Region Production Fund, it will be distributed by all3Media International.