Isolation Stories

ITV, 9pm A series of 15-minute films set during the coronavirus lockdown showing over four consecutive nights begins with Sheridan Smith starring as a woman preparing for the birth of her first child. But Mel (Smith, right) is all alone: the father is married and has decided against leaving his wife and children, while her own family now wants nothing to do with her.

Explaining why she agreed to take the part at short notice, Smith said, ‘I am heavily pregnant and have been isolating at home, so I jumped at the chance to make something about the massive drama going on all around us right now.’

Previews were not available before going to press, but this snapshot of a life behind closed doors amid social-distancing measures promises an immediacy and relevance that – along with the presence of Smith – surely makes viewing essential. Graeme Garden pays tribute to his friend and former Goodies colleague (right), who passed away last month. Brooke-Taylor’s contemporaries also discuss working with the much-loved comedian and there’s a chance to relive classic moments from his long stint on I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. Ann Petry’s groundbreaking novel

The Street (Monday-Friday, Radio 4, 12 midday), about a single mother trying to make a better life for herself and her son in 1940s Harlem, was the first by an African-American woman to sell a million copies. Adjoa Andoh reads this new 10-part adaptation.