Channel 4 commissions new factual programmes about coronavirus
New programmes include Corona Street, which will look at the impact of Covid-19 on communities.
Channel 4 has commissioned new factual programmes about Covid-19 that follow healthcare workers, scientists and experts who are helping to fight the virus.
Public service broadcasters are facing “one of the biggest challenges” they have ever come up against as they try to “reflect the full impact” of the outbreak, according to Channel 4’s director of programmes Ian Katz.
Pandemic: Can Science Beat Coronavirus?, which will be broadcast later this month, will see a panel of scientists have a debate about the virus, with topics covered including the prospect of finding a vaccine and Covid-19’s death rate.
NHS Heroes will see frontline healthcare workers film themselves, each other and their families and friends as they help with the response to the virus.
The programme will also explore what it is like to be a retired NHS worker returning to the fold to help fight Covid-19 and the experiences of families watching newly qualified relatives walk onto a coronavirus ward for the first time.
The impact of Covid-19 on communities will be discussed on Corona Street as a filmmaker tries to get to know his neighbours better while socially distancing himself.
Unreported World: What Did South Korea Get Right? will explore the response to the virus in the country and look at how they managed to achieve mass testing of their population.
Mr Katz said: “Reflecting the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and helping our viewers through it is one of the biggest challenges public service broadcasters have ever faced.
“These challenges are particularly acute for commercial broadcasters who are experiencing huge disruption to their revenues, but we believe it is vital to keep serving our audiences with shows that help them both understand and withstand the most severe global crisis of the modern era.”
