MLF contribute to fast-turnaround Discovery doc COVID-19: Battling the Devil

Meridian Line Films recently assisted Chinese production company CICC in the making of COVID-19: Battling the Devil. The quick-turnaround one-off film was broadcast on Discovery, pulling in double the average ratings across Australia and New Zealand as well as pulling in impressive audiences in Italy, the second hotspot of the worldwide pandemic. The film was also broadcast on Bilibili in China where it rated highly with the channel’s very young audience.

Covid-19: Battling the Devil takes a careful look at Wuhan, the original epicentre of the pandemic as it counts down to the city’s eventual lockdown on 23^rd January 2020. The film follows characters on the frontline of tackling the disease, from scientists researching to find a cure to doctors working in intensive care. The film explores in detail how neighbourhoods in Wuhan managed to get by and reduce new infections to zero when residents were not able to leave their homes for any reason for over 70 days.

Before worldwide travel restrictions were put in place, Meridian Line Films were able to shoot in both the UK and at the WHO HQ in Geneva, Switzerland, interviewing experts for the documentary, including World Health Organization official spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris, epidemiologist Professor David Heymann and infectious diseases expert Dr. Nathalie MacDermott at King’s College London.