Running,weights,FaceTime
withmumandpoetryarejust
whattheex-Doctorordered
MY
ISOLATION
PRESERVATION
KIT
MYBINGE-WORTHYBOXSETS
TECHNOLOGY
MYNEWSKILLCHALLENGE
MYCOMFORTFOOD
MYEXERCISEREGIME
MYSOUNDTRACK
MYREADINGLIST
I’vemanagedtosourcefromJapana boxset
ofSoulTrain, whichwasthismassiveblack
AmericanmusicprogrammeintheSixties,
SeventiesandEighties.You’vegotpeoplelike
MarvinGaye,AlGreenand CurtisMayfield
performinginthestudiowiththeSoulTrain
linedancers,andduringthesetimesthatis
tremendouslyuplifting.Like thebox setof
TheOldGreyWhistleTest, itfunctionsbothas
a providerofmusicalgems,butalsoa social
document.I’vealwaysbeenfascinatedbythe
music’ssocialandculturalimpact.
Christopher
Eccleston
I’mreadingMotherwell
byDeborahOrr,thelate
Guardianjournalist:a portrait
ofa childhoodanda place
anda relationship– I can’t
reallyarticulateit,butitisan
extraordinarybook.AndI’malso
lovingre-readingtheManchester
poetLemnSissay’sbook,My
NameIsWhy. Heisincredible.AlexRiderauthorAnthony
Horowitzisenjoyingsomehome
cookingandLineofDutystarVicky
McClureisgettingstuckinto
Motown.Seebigissue.comfor
moreisolationkits.I’ve been going out running for an
hour a day and doing weights for an
hour as well. So exercise has been
massive for me. I’m trying as hard as
I can to complement that training
byeatinghealthily.
I’m rewatching the documentary OJ: Made in America, a
complete and utter masterpiece. It’s an incredible portrait
of an individual whilst also being a portrait of a nation that
gives us an opportunity to look at America and its racism
through the lens of celebrity. Myself and my children have
watched all of the Studio Ghibli films. They’re most famous
for Spirited Away, but we watched The Tale of the Princess
Kaguya, which I think is their masterpiece. It had my son
Albert, who is eight, in tears. And myself, Albert and Esme
were all spellbound and incredibly moved. It’s very special.In the first couple of weeks of
lockdown I was drinking too much, I
was struggling. I think a lot of us drank
more than usual. So I have knocked
that on the head and I’m trying to stay
off until the lockdown is lifted because
it wasn’t helping. I’ve not missed it.We were supposed to start shooting
a six-part series for Channel 4 called
Close To Me. I would have been learning
lines every day; that’s taken from me
now, so I’ve been making myself learn
poems. I have recorded one for the
NHS. And I’ve dived headlong into the
works of John Cooper Clarke, recording
andputtingitonmyInstagram.30 APRIL-06MAY 2020 BIGISSUE.COM | 15
I always speak to my mum, who is in Salford,
once a day on the telephone. But since the
lockdown we FaceTime twice a day. I got her
an iPad a couple of years ago and she didn’t
really use it, but it’s really helped me and
hopefully my mum during this lockdown. My
mum, like me, lives alone. So it has been key
for both of us to see each other, to see a loved
The A Word starts on Tuesday May 5
on BBC One