From KILLING EVE to SAVIOUR SARAH

Jodie Comer’s gone from deadly assassin to a caring nurse fighting Covid

She was the epitome of glamour as the seductive assassin Villanelle in Killing Eve. But now Jodie Comer (above) leaves the role that catapulted her to stardom far behind her in a heart-wrenching drama revealing her brilliance as an actress.

Starring Comer as a care home assistant, Sarah, and set during the early months of the pandemic as Covid-19 first hit Britain, Help gives us a haunting glimpse of the distressing course of events that beset all too many elderly and vulnerable people last year.

Joining his fellow Liverpudlian in another acting tour de force is the ever-versatile Stephen Graham (recently seen in The North Water, inset above, with Comer), playing 47-year-old Tony, who suffers from young-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

The script from acclaimed writer Jack Thorne (The Virtues) tells the story from Sarah’s point of view, starting before the pandemic. After a rocky interview with the manager (Ian Hart) at a care home in Liverpool, she starts working there and soon shows a natural aptitude for the job, always displaying the patience and understanding to ensure the troubled residents are afforded the dignity they deserve.

In particular, she shows great kindness towards Tony who, though able-bodied, only fitfully remembers that his mother is dead because of his condition and consoles himself with the mantra of proudly reciting the Liverpool football team line-up of his youth.

Then, not long after she is firmly established in her post, Sarah almost overlooks the first reports of a virus from China making its presence felt in this country. Virtually overnight, the care home finds itself facing the same terrifying prospect as many others across Britain, as first one resident and then another becomes dangerously ill, while the NHS and the authorities have all too little support to offer.

As the situation worsens and more of her colleagues go off sick, Sarah is left to carry almost the entire burden on her own – until, in desperation, she has to turn to Tony for help, with consequences that may change both of their lives for ever.

Unflinching in its depiction of the tragic reality of the Covid crisis in care homes last year, Help also celebrates the staff who dedicated themselves through long, gruelling months to doing all they could to comfort and nurse those in their care.

Comer is very likely to claim another award to add to the Bafta and Emmy she already has in her trophy cabinet, but come what may, she can prize having paid worthy tribute to the unsung heroes of Britain’s pandemic.