Advertisement
News

Christopher Eccleston’s isolation preservation kit

The boxsets, music, exercises and more that are helping The A Word star stay happy and healthy while staying at home

Binge-worthy boxsets

I’m rewatching O.J.: Made in America, the documentary, which is 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. The only thing I can think of that comes close to it is Ken Burns’ Jazz documentary series, which uses music to look at race in America. I’m obsessed with that. Myself and my children have watched all of the Studio Ghibli films. They’re most famous for Spirited Away but this weekend, we watched 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. I would urge anybody, adults or children, to watch it. It is one of the greatest animated films I’ve ever seen. It’s very special.

Read all about it

I’m reading Motherwell by Deborah Orr, the late Guardian journalist. It’s a portrait of a childhood and a place and a relationship – I can’t really articulate it, but it is an extraordinary book. And I’m also loving re-reading the Manchester poet Lemn Sissay’s book, My Name Is Why. He is incredible.

The soundtrack to my isolation

I’ve managed to source from Japan a boxset of Soul Train, which was this massive black American music programme in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. You’ve got people like Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Curtis Mayfield performing in studio with the famous Soul Train line dancers, and that, during these times, is tremendously uplifting. Like the box set of The Old Grey Whistle Test, it functions both as a provider of musical gems, but also a social document. Q Tip from The Roots wrote a book about it, where he talks about finally seeing people who look like him on television in America – there are chapters about his favourite episodes, their impact on him, and their impact on the black community in America. It chimes a lot with the OJ Simpson doc. Probably because I am a white boy who grew up in a working class area on black music in the 60s, I’ve always been fascinated by the the music’s impact socially and culturally.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Staying active

I’ve been going out running for an hour a day. And I’ve been doing weights for an hour a day as well. So exercise has been massive for me. I’m trying as hard as I can to complement that training by eating healthily.

Comfort foods

I found in the first couple of weeks of lockdown that I was drinking too much. The first couple of weeks I was struggling. I think possibly a lot of us drank more than usual. So I have knocked that on the head and I’m trying to stay off drink until the lockdown is lifted because it wasn’t helping me personally. I’ve not missed it, actually, because I like drinking in a social situation rather than isolation.

Tech

I always speak to my mum once a day on the telephone. But since the lockdown myself and my mum, who is in Salford, 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 one.

New skill

I was just about to start a big job. We were supposed to start shooting a six part series for Channel Four called Close To Me on April 20. I’m 56, and I would have been learning lines every single day for four months. That’s taken away from me now and I was missing that creative outlet, so I’ve been making myself learn poems. I have recorded a poem for the NHS – I did that on my iPhone. And I’ve dived headlong into the collective works of John Cooper Clarke. I’ve been recording some of his poetry and putting them on my Instagram, which I’ve never done before. I’m gonna try and do some more – maybe some Yeats or Lemn Sissay. So it’s practical, but it’s also a creative outlet.

The A Word starts on Tuesday 5 May on BBC One

You can buy one-off issues or subscriptions from The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play.

You can keep us going by subscribing to the magazine to receive it every week directly to your door or device. Head to bigissue.com/subscribe for more details.

You can also get a copy in stores for the first time. Head to Sainsbury’s, McColl’s, Co-op, Asda or WH Smith to grab the latest issue.

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

Read All
Rents in UK are rising at highest rate in decades. Will they keep going up?
rents uk
Renting

Rents in UK are rising at highest rate in decades. Will they keep going up?

'Dismay' for disabled and vulnerable households as average annual energy bills to rise to £1,738
Blue flames from a gas hob
Energy bills

'Dismay' for disabled and vulnerable households as average annual energy bills to rise to £1,738

Mum-of-three hit with 'revenge eviction' after asking for repairs: 'It felt like the end of the world'
Hazell and her three kids faced homelessness until Shelter stepped in
Renting

Mum-of-three hit with 'revenge eviction' after asking for repairs: 'It felt like the end of the world'

Malala Yousafzai on taking on the Taliban and why 'storytelling is the soul of activism'
Malala Yousafzai
Activism

Malala Yousafzai on taking on the Taliban and why 'storytelling is the soul of activism'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue