Romesh Ranganathan, Jack Whitehall and Russell Howard are among the comedians who have recently teamed up with one of their parents to form an unlikely cross-generational double act. Now Mark Thomas has done it, but typically for Thomas he has done it in a very different way, making serious points as well as getting laughs in his new podcast, Mark Thomas’s Lockdown Check-Up, in which he co-stars with his octogenarian mother.

Spending lockdown in a small flat with his elderly mum has pushed comedian Thomas to reflect on their sometimes stormy relationship. He’s 57 and she’s 85. He says she’s curmudgeonly; she says he’s the most aggravating person on the planet.

It’s also made him want to find out more about COVID-19.

In the first of six podcasts commissioned by Wellcome Collection, Mark calls frontline health workers to chat about coronavirus, end-of-life care and the importance of touch.