Oh Brother, we have a problem
”THAT escalated quickly” drama of the week wasthe Deceived on C5, which hit the ground running and hurtled towards a chilling finale.
We found out that English lecturer Michael and his wife Roisin, played by Emmett J. Scanlan and Catherine Walker, covered up Roisin’s murder of his student Annabelle and faked Roisin’s death.
There were tense and gripping scenes as Michael’s lover Ophelia, played by Emily Reid, was gagged and bound in the creepy house. Finally, Roisin and Ophelia joined forces to frame Michael, as marvellous mother Mary lied to police: “He staged the whole thing.”
Then Michael “accidentally” died, Ophelia had the baby and Roisin vanished… until someone found her just as the credits rolled.
Unless I’m deceived, this has series two written all over it.
FEVER. Loss of taste and smell. A hacking cough and palpitations.
“I know how nasty Covid can be,” added Dr Xand van Tulleken to his list of symptoms, as Surviving The Virus: My Brother And Me started on BBC1.
He goes on to tell us he “felt awful” which seems a huge understatement.
Not long after he contracted coronavirus, he was whisked off to A&E to be defibrillated.
This powerful film from the front lines served as a stark reminder that we are still in the middle of a scary pandemic, even if the pubs are open and Ryanair is now able to whisk us off to Spain. OK, not Spain… Greece maybe?
The sun’s out, we’ve all bought a mask and a couple of bottles of hand sanitiser – is it all over yet?
TV doctor twins Chris and Xand are experts at relaying science to the masses and they did not sugar-coat the reality.
Chris is an infectious diseases doctor at University College London and has been called back to the front lines. With special access, we saw the crisis close up, with shocking scenes from infection wards.
Critical care consultant Dr Mike Patterson said: “No matter what we do, there appears to be an immovable death rate of 50 per cent. Half of the people who come in, die.”
Miracle
Portuguese restaurateur Florentino was teetering on the edge of life, having spent weeks on a ventilator and dialysis.
“Every day we’re getting bad news,” said his daughter Denise. “But I have to stay strong. I have to have hope.”
With barely any healthy lung left, doctors debated whether to continue with treatment. Is it futile?
“Not quite yet,” said one medic. In what felt like a miracle, “Tino” survived.
In a rehab centre, 49-year-old Chuck, a recently widowed dad of two, was learning to walk again after a Covid-linked stroke.
And a care home manager broke down as she told Xand that residents had died painful deaths away from their family. Seven residents in only 12 days.
But the most dramatic moment was when Xand, having woken up in a panic at 3am with a racing heart, had to have his heart stopped and then restarted at Chris’s hospital.
“I wasn’t expecting the flatline for quite so long afterwards,” said Chris, tearful behind his mask.
“Xand is half my identity.”
This latest documentary from the twins had suddenly become extremely personal, emotional and frightening.
“We don’t have effective treatments. We don’t have a vaccine,” said Chris.
“We are still so vulnerable to every aspect of this virus.”
This was a painfully frank warning that no, it’s not over yet.