Gary Barlow and Covid make for harrowing end of year viewing Independent.ie 13/12/2020 Eilis O'Hanlon It could so easily have become an exercise in ghoulish voyeurism, but Ireland Under Lockdown: Covid 19 Stories was a much more substantial piece of work, skilfully utilising its relatively short running time to take a sobering look back at how Ireland has coped with the coronavirus since ominous reports of a new deadly disease emerged from China at the start of the year. Presenter Zara King did so by concentrating on the human impact of the pandemic. Watching the families of some of those who died this year, still distraught at what they were put through, was heartbreaking. It didn't feel like an exaggeration when one wondered: "Is this our world war?"