THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS + INSIDE NO. 9 + HORIZON: MAKING SENSE OF CANCER WITH HANNAH FRY

This article was originally published in The Courier on 28th May 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

The Midwich Cuckoos – Thursday, Sky Showcase, 9pm

This contemporary eight-part adaptation of John Wyndham’s classic science-fiction novel feels quite promising. The premise: in a picturesque English market town, every woman of child-bearing age inexplicably becomes pregnant overnight. 

I won’t elaborate in case you haven’t read the book or seen the 1960 film adaptation, Village of the Damned. What I will say is that it boasts an effective air of mounting unease. Director Alice Troughton bathes much of the action in disquieting summer twilight. It has a subtly nightmarish quality. 

Keeley Hawes plays a sympathetic child therapist with a vulnerable daughter. Max Beesley is an everyman local police chief whose wife is already pregnant before the strange incident occurs. A self-contained apocalypse ensues.

Lucy Worsley Investigates – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

In episode two of her probing history lesson, Worsley tackles the Bubonic plague. She focuses on the first and most catastrophic outbreak, which took place in mid-14^th century Britain. Approximately half the population were wiped out. 

In an effort to explain how this devastating pandemic transformed British society, she traces the sad story of a typical peasant farming family. Her rigorous research unearths an ugly tumult of systemic hypocrisy, prejudice and injustice. So-called moral leaders exploited this horrific situation for their own financial and political gain. 

As usual, Worsley slyly reads between the lines with regards to the cyclical nature of history. She doesn’t have to spell it out explicitly, but some things never change.

Once Upon a Time in Londongrad – Tuesday, Sky Showcase, 9pm

This timely series examines 14 suspicious high-profile UK deaths with alleged connections to Putin’s Russia. It’s led by investigative journalist Heidi Blake and her BuzzFeed News colleagues, who for the last few years have immersed themselves in these interconnected cases. 

It begins with the murky saga of Scot Young, a Dundee-born tycoon who died in 2014 after falling from a window of his London penthouse. His ex-wife believes he was murdered. Young was allegedly involved in dealings with a powerful Russian oligarch who had no truck with Putin. 

I’ve only seen the first two episodes, but the overall aim is clear: to expose corruption on a vast and far-reaching scale. Organised crime comes in many guises.

Between the Covers – Wednesday, BBC Two, 7:30pm

This week, your genial book club host Sara Cox is joined by the comedians Jo Brand and Darren Harriott, plus the actors Neil Morrissey and Nina Wadia. 

New titles under review include Love Marriage by Monica Ali and The Faber Book of Reportage, a hefty centuries-spanning compendium of dramatic eyewitness accounts. 

The latest selections from their ongoing Big Jubilee Read list, which celebrates great authors from all across the Commonwealth, are The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and Disgrace by J.M. Coatzee. Thumbs are raised. 

Side note: Brand reveals in passing that she was named after Jo from Little Women. A fitting honour for someone who is quite clearly one of the most decent showbiz personalities.    

George Clarke’s Flipping Fast – Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm

This is a series in which George Clarke, a man so bland he makes Alan Titchmarsh look like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, presides over six teams chasing their property development dreams. They have no experience in this field, but apparently all you need to succeed is blind ambition and £100,000 in the bank. 

Full disclosure: I haven’t seen this programme, preview copies weren’t available, but as a doggedly professional connoisseur of Channel 4’s never-ending avalanche of lifestyle/makeover shows, I can pretty much guarantee that it will be formulaic business as usual. 

I mention it only in the hope that it provides you with some fleeting schadenfreude a la Grand Designs. Still, good luck to all concerned.

Inside No. 9 – Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm

They’ve saved the best until last. The final episode of this current series pivots around a series of authentically rendered animated 1970s Public Information Films in the Charley Says vein. 

Some of those old PIFs are notoriously odd and unsettling, a natural source of inspiration for Pemberton and Shearsmith. The latter plays a man haunted by memories of one particular TV campaign. Pemberton provides a few brief moments of levity as a neighbour lumbered with a dead rabbit in urgent next of taxidermy. 

As writers, they both tread carefully around a story which could have, in less capable hands, sunk into a quagmire of very poor taste. They pull it off, I think. The discomfort they create is emotionally justified.

Horizon: Making Sense of Cancer with Hannah Fry – Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

Last year, the mathematician and broadcaster Hannah Fry was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She began filming herself as a way of getting through the ordeal. 

Perhaps an intimate record could help her and fellow cancer patients gain a deeper understanding of what they have to deal with. This searching documentary is the result. 

Fry has carried out some extensive statistical analysis of cancer treatment. That’s thrown up some difficult questions. Are doctors making the right decisions when it comes to treating cancer patients? Are we even at risk of over-medicalising cancer? 

This, to say the least, is a highly sensitive subject. Fry’s conversations with patients and medical experts are unflinchingly honest, but it’s all handled with care. 

LAST WEEK’S TV

Top of the Pops: The Story of 1998 – Saturday 21st May, BBC Two

In ‘98 the Spice Girls were in freefall. Robbie Williams became a bona fide solo star. Keith Allen captured hearts and minds with Vindaloo by Fat Les. What a time it was to be young. 

This recent spate of TOTP retrospectives has obviously struggled with budget cuts, hence the same bunch of talking heads appearing in multiple episodes. Must we hear Huey Morgan’s thoughts on everything? 

However, this episode did at least introduce some new recruits, most notably All Saints, who came across well in their good-natured group interview. They’re still on friendly terms. In the fraught world of pop, that’s a heartening anomaly. 

Also, I must admit, that chaotic Fat Les studio performance was quite amusing. Sorry.

2 Tone: The Sound of Coventry – Saturday 21st May, BBC Two

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a small independent Coventry record label sparked a nationwide phenomenon. 2 Tone fused ska with the spirit of punk and a mod aesthetic. 

Under the yoke of Thatcherism and neo-Nazi violence, The Specials, The Beat, Madness and The Selecter hosted a racially integrated party fuelled by music, fashion, fun and politics: left-wing, working-class, anti-racist social commentary you could dance to. 

This lovingly curated documentary captured the subversive thrill of that hugely significant cultural uprising. Perceptive insight was provided by Pauline Black from The Selecter, Neville Staple from The Specials, and his erstwhile bandmate/visionary movement leader Jerry Dammers. They all achieved something of lasting impact. A beautiful celebration.

LUCY WORSLEY INVESTIGATES + TROY DEENEY: WHERE'S MY HISTORY? + INSIDE NO. 9

This article was originally published in The Courier on 21st May 2022. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Lucy Worsley Investigates – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Worsley’s latest series is a characteristically vivid and engaging odyssey in which she challenges the received wisdom surrounding “some of the most dramatic and brutal chapters in British history.” 

Episode one finds her poring over ancient accounts and recently unearthed clues about Britain’s 17^th century witch hunts. It’s an awfully bleak yet fascinating subject. Worsley breathes life into women who were tragically persecuted during an epoch poisoned by violently deranged religious fervour.  

Worsley’s essays are sometimes tinged with whimsical humour, a little bit of light to offset the shade, but she’s on deadly serious form here. There is no room for levity. It’s a disturbing cold case investigated with commendable care and rigour.

Troy Deeney: Where’s My History? – Monday, Channel 4, 10pm

The professional footballer Troy Deeney continues his dedicated stand against structural racism in this informative documentary. 

Education is key, that’s Deeney’s driving point. A more expansive account of black history needs to be embedded within the UK’s school curriculum. British children have to learn about a whole range of ethnic minority role models. A few well-meaning lessons devoted to the likes of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks aren’t enough. That just won’t do. 

“Learning about the positive contributions black people have made to society will not only empower black pupils,” says Deeney, “but will help stamp out the vile racist abuse me, my family and people of colour as a whole are subjected to.”

Bake Off: The Professionals – Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm

I don’t understand the appeal of these cake-based programmes, but to each their own. Enjoy what you like, just as long as no one gets hurt in the process. If this column has a message, it’s probably that. 

Anyway. You know the formulaic score: various patisserie artisans compete for Bake Off glory. In round one they have just three hours to create 36 strawberry frasiers. As soon as that challenge was announced I immediately envisioned several full-sized glazed effigies of the actor Kelsey Grammer. That’s because I’m inherently facile. The results don’t live up to my stupid imaginings. Life is a constant disappointment. 

Genuine plus point: the delightful Stacey Solomon is your new co-host.

State of the Union – Tuesday, BBC Two, 10pm

Series two of this anthology drama, which is written by Nick Hornby and directed by Stephen Frears, unfolds as before in snappy ten minute exchanges between a troubled married couple.

Ellen (Patricia Clarkson) and Scott (Brendan Gleeson) meet in a hipster New York coffee shop. It’s a fraught encounter. 

Clarkson and Gleeson are both fine actors, but Hornby’s screenplay is terribly mannered. His writing draws attention to itself in a self-congratulatory way. It makes the dialogue of that insufferable blowhard Aaron Sorkin sound like Shane Meadows at his rawest. Ellen and Scott never come across as real people, they’re just mouthpieces for Hornby’s sub-screwball waffle.

It’s a long ten minutes. Oh well. Other television programmes are available.

Inside No. 9 – Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm

The best episode of this particular series thus far, ‘A Random Act of Kindness’ is a sad domestic drama that veers off in entirely unexpected directions. 

The excellent Jessica Hynes stars as Helen, a tired, lonely, middle-aged woman trapped in an unhappy relationship with her angry teenage son, Zach. One day, a small bird crashes into Zach’s bedroom window. 

The injured animal is rescued by Bob (Steve Pemberton), a kindly passing stranger with a peculiar linguistic quirk who gradually forms a friendship with Helen and Zach. Reece Shearsmith plays a significant supporting role, as do the laws of physics (that’ll make sense when you watch it). 

This is Inside No. 9 in primarily serious and poignant mode. It lingers.

Grayson’s Art Club: Queen’s Jubilee Special – Wednesday, Channel 4, 10pm

Now, you wouldn’t expect Grayson Perry to be much of a royalist. And you’d be right. But he’s fascinated by the monarchy and all the complex things it represents. The Queen in particular is an artist’s dream. Her image and the iconography that surrounds her can be used in all sorts of interesting ways. 

In this typically thoughtful edition of his Art Club, Perry and his wife Philippa invite talented amateur artists to create their own symbolic renderings of Her Majesty. “Whatever they might tell us about her,” says Perry, “might also tell us some revealing things about ourselves.” 

His celebrity guests are Harry Hill and Prue Leith, but as always the real stars are those creative members of the public.

PRU – Thursday, BBC Three, 10pm

This new sitcom follows a bunch of teenagers as they attempt to navigate their way through everyday life at a Pupil Referral Unit, otherwise known as a school for excluded kids. 

Series creators Alex Tenenbaum, Nathaniel Stevens and Teddy Nygh have created something here that’s clearly borne of research and experience. It’s a sympathetic piece of social commentary, albeit one that doesn’t draw self-conscious attention to its fundamentally serious themes. 

The young multicultural cast are entirely convincing, and the writing is quite sharp at times. Will you bust a gut laughing? Probably not. But PRU is a likeable show populated by intriguing characters, and the premise alone makes it worthy of consideration. It has some potential.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Conversations with Friends – Sunday 15th May, BBC Three

BBC Three’s adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People was one of the best TV dramas of recent years. This adaptation of Rooney’s debut novel is brought to you by the same team. It will almost certainly repeat the success of their previous endeavour. 

The protagonist is Frances, a bright, shy, slightly awkward young woman who performs spoken-word poetry with her more extroverted best pal and ex-girlfriend Bobbi. Complications arise when the duo enter the orbit of a successful author. Frances falls for her handsome actor husband. Bobbi is attracted to his wife. 

As per Normal People, this is a perceptive and emotionally resonant piece of work in which everything rings true. It cuts deep.

Derry Girls – Tuesday 18th May and Wednesday 19th May 19, Channel 4

“There’s no answer to any of this, is there?” 

With that line spoken by Michelle, Lisa McGee pretty much summed up the underlying point of her justly lauded sitcom about Northern Irish teenage friends living through the final years of the Troubles. 

Her two-part farewell didn’t disappoint. Derry Girls was first and foremost a knockabout farce. The characters were daft and endearing. But McGee never lost sight of the sombre background details, even while she was making us laugh. She judged it all astutely. 

The final episode, which revolved around the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, brought her emotions to the fore in an entirely earned way. Sweet, silly and quietly profound; a perfect ending.

FLOODLIGHTS + INSIDE NO. 9 + WINTER WALKS: ADRIAN CHILES

This article was originally published in The Courier on 14th May 2022. 

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Floodlights – Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

The former professional footballer Andy Woodward is a victim of child sexual abuse. Six years ago, he bravely went public about his life-shattering ordeal. 

Woodward’s abuser was the football coach and self-styled ‘star-maker’ Barry Bennell, a manipulative serial predator who exploited his status to prey upon more than 100 vulnerable children. He got away with his crimes for years. 

This powerful standalone drama recounts Woodward’s story. Floodlights is angering, heart-breaking, an uncomfortable watch. It has to be. There is no other way of addressing a heinous scandal that implicates an entire institution. 

An important piece of television, it exposes the insidious methods of abusers while dealing sensitively with the enduring trauma of their victims.

The Truth About Nike and Adidas: Dispatches – Monday, Channel 4, 8:30pm

The latest edition of Channel 4’s long-running and justly lauded current affairs strand tackles the big brand trainer industry and its supposed commitment to sustainability. 

Your investigative reporter is the actor/writer Darcy Thomas, a self-confessed trainer aficionado. He’s troubled by a growing amount of evidence highlighting the trainer industry’s negative impact on the environment. It is widely thought to be one of the world’s largest polluters, but funnily enough it tends to keep quiet about that. 

More than 25 billion pairs of trainers are manufactured every year. That amounts to three per person in the world. Thomas travels to the Maldives to find out what’s really going on with the likes of Nike and Adidas.

Joe Wicks: Facing My Childhood – Monday, BBC One, 9pm

Charismatic fitness coach Joe Wicks became something of a national hero during the first lockdown, when his hugely popular ‘P.E. with Joe’ YouTube videos helped children to remain fit and healthy. In this candid documentary, Wicks turns his attention to mental health. 

During the pandemic, he received thousands of messages from parents who opened up about their mental health issues. They were all understandably worried about how this may impact on their children. Wicks understood implicitly. He was raised by a mum with OCD, anxiety and an eating disorder, and a dad who struggled with depression and heroin addiction. 

So he sets out to discover what can be done to better support families going through similar situations.

Beat the Chasers – Monday to Friday, STV, 9pm

Anne “The Governess” Hegerty had to bow out of the latest series of this Chase spin-off after being tested positive for COVID, so she’s been temporarily replaced by top Australian chaser Issa “The Supernerd” Schultz. He’s a genial addition to the team. 

The Chase in all its forms is an irresistible quiz, precisely because it’s so simple and straightforward. There’s no messing about, they just get on with it. And Bradley Walsh, of course, is Britain’s greatest living gameshow host (face facts, Ross Kemp). He’s entirely at home in his shiny-floored crucible of cheeky gags, banter and trivia. 

Forsyth and Monkhouse, where e’er they may be, will doubtless be nodding in approval at his mastery of the craft.

Elon Musk: Superhero or Supervillain? – Monday, Channel 4, 9pm

Now there’s a question that no one with an ounce of perspicacity has to think about twice. But Musk is in the news again due to his $44bn acquisition of Twitter, so that’s why this documentary exists. 

Preview copies weren’t available, but I do know that it features interviews with people who have worked alongside the controversial tech tycoon, who is part of a small group of insanely wealthy men with a powerful global reach exceeding that of most governments. We also hear from people who have locked horns with his companies. 

Musk is obviously an ‘interesting’ figure, I can’t deny that, so this programme will hopefully shed some light upon whatever it is that makes him tick.

The Airport: Back in the Skies – Monday, BBC One, 10:40pm

1990s docusoap titan Jeremy Spake was the breakout star of BBC One’s Airport. Since then he’s become a professional aviation expert. In this belated sequel, Spake returns to his old stomping ground of Heathrow Airport as it attempts to establish some semblance of normality following the gradual lifting of COVID restrictions. 

He’s dismayed to discover that an entire terminal has been mothballed. There simply aren’t enough flights to justify its existence. “It literally looks like an apocalypse has happened,” he sighs, “there’s literally no one here.” 

But it’s not all doom and gloom. New opportunities are arriving at Heathrow. Spake, who knows his airborne onions, remains optimistic about the future of an industry that he clearly cares about deeply.

Inside No. 9 – Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm

A perennial ‘problem’ with previewing Inside No. 9 is that the show’s very nature precludes one from providing anything more than a very vague synopsis. But I can never resist recommending it. 

This instalment is particularly strange and bleak. A woman (Daisy Haggard) is kidnapped by a disquieting fool (Daniel Mays). His ransom demand is £1.3 million, a vast fortune that can be readily accessed by the victim’s awful hedge fund manager husband (Reece Shearsmith). A split screen technique is used throughout. There are creepy masks. And that’s all I can tell you with regards to the plot and presentation. 

It’s not top tier Inside No. 9, it doesn't quite hang together and the nihilistic tone is borderline unpleasant, but at least it’s never predictable.

LAST WEEK’S TV

Top of the Pops: The Story of 1997 – Saturday 7th May, BBC Two

The latest TOTP retrospective attempted, with heroic determination, to present 1997 as a significant year for pop. 

This is the narrative we were expected to swallow: Britpop was over, but at least we still had defiant stragglers such as Republica and Placebo. Not only that, Texas gained a second wind and the Fun Lovin’ Criminals briefly became a thing. 

I have no strong opinions about any of those bands, as that would be a pointless waste of time and energy, but the people behind this show are really clutching at straws now. 

Still, I enjoyed the surprisingly sweet story of harmless novelty Euro-poppers Aqua, and anarcho-punks Chumbawamba gate-crashing the mainstream will always be an amusing anomaly.  

Winter Walks: Adrian Chiles – Monday 9th May, BBC Four

In this standalone edition of the popular celebrity rambling detour, Adrian Chiles went for a leisurely 4.9 mile walk along Scarborough’s scenic coastline. “This is what makes Britain great,” marvelled the affable everyman of British broadcasting as he took in the views. 

These programmes are always intimate and ruminative, that’s baked into the 360-degree light handheld camera format, but Chiles was particularly introspective. The underlying theme was his struggle with depression, anxiety and ADD, and the ways in which simple pleasures such as communing with nature can sometimes help. 

Naturally, Chiles didn’t prescribe that as a miracle cure, but his lyrical sincerity was rather touching. He came across as a sensitive soul who takes nothing for granted.

DARREN McGARVEY'S ADDICTIONS + FERGAL KEANE: LIVING WITH PTSD + INSIDE NO. 9

This article was originally published in The Courier on 7th May 2022.

NEXT WEEK’S TV

Darren McGarvey’s Addictions – Tuesday, BBC Scotland, 10pm

Scotland has the highest drug fatality rate in Europe and the highest alcohol-related death rate in the UK. We’re Britain’s gambling capital and we have a serious obesity problem. Why are so many Scottish people struggling desperately with addiction? 

In this sensitive new series, author, journalist and musician Darren McGarvey examines the issue while investigating measures that could and should be in place to help addicts. 

McGarvey is a recovering alcoholic. Like all intelligent, empathetic people, he recognises that alcoholism is a complicated illness. In episode one he meets with medical experts and other recovering addicts. 

The programme approaches alcohol misuse from various considered angles. There are, of course, no straightforward answers, but this is a valuable report.

Britain’s Top Takeaways – Monday to Thursday, BBC Two, 8pm

Warning: don’t watch this series while feeling peckish, as you may end up blowing a fortune on takeaways. It’s a harmlessly formulaic contest in which top takeaway outlets from around the country go head to head in a pop-up HQ. 

The judges aren’t celebs for once. They’re ‘ordinary’ British couples and families tasked with sampling the wares of our contestants. It’s MasterChef meets Gogglebox, basically. An inevitable union we’ve all been waiting for. 

It begins with a battle betwixt five popular chippies, one of which is based in Coatbridge. They each add their own magic ingredients to the classic fish supper, a cornerstone of the great British diet. Your affable hosts are Sara Cox and comedian Darren Harriott.

Fergal Keane: Living with PTSD – Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

The esteemed BBC News foreign correspondent Fergal Keane has reported on brutal conflicts for over 30 years. He’s witnessed so many harrowing atrocities, the absolute worst of humanity. Fourteen years ago he was diagnosed with PTSD. 

Recently, while filming in Kyiv on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he made a decision: it was time to go home and put war reports behind him. 

In this ruminative essay, Keane digs deep into his psyche while examining the effects of this debilitating condition. He’s very honest and self-aware. He states that his career was largely driven by idealism, but also by an addiction to the adrenaline of war reportage. It made him feel worthwhile. It also consumed him with survivor’s guilt.

Between the Covers – Wednesday, BBC Two, 7:30pm

A busy week for Sara Cox continues with the return of her engaging little book club. It’s impossible to dislike Cox, that’s just a fact, so this brief burst of ubiquity is entirely acceptable. 

Her guests this week are radio presenter Vick Hope, actor David Morrissey, television man Richard Osman and comedian/podcaster Deborah Frances White. 

This latest series is brought to you in conjunction with the BBC’s Big Jubilee Read, which celebrates the work of writers from across the Commonwealth. One of the novels under review in episode one is the Booker Prize-winning The English Patient by Sri Lankan author Michael Ondaatje. 

As always, the panel also wax lyrical about some of their favourite tomes.

DNA Family Secrets – Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Stacey Dooley returns for another series of carefully handled and potentially life-changing DNA investigations. Three people take a test this week. 

Richard has always wanted to know the identity of his father; he never received a satisfactory answer from his mother, who passed away quite recently. Glen, who is mixed race, also doesn’t know who his father was. He’s always wondered about his exact ethnic heritage. Finding out will hopefully complete his sense of self. Meanwhile, Janet has reason to believe that she has a secret half-sister in Austria. 

Dooley’s expert team of geneticists, genealogists and doctors have to start from scratch in all three cases, but they get results. Uplifting revelations ensue.

Inside No. 9 – Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm

It recently occurred to me that Inside No. 9 is a bona fide modern classic. Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have, across seven series and over 40 episodes, maintained a remarkably high quality threshold. 

This anthology is an ingenious endeavour made with evident love and care, one which rewards the viewer on an almost entirely consistent basis. Exemplary television. 

The latest episode is a meta-textual critique of generic crime fiction tropes. Sophie Okonedo, brilliant as always, stars as a dysfunctional cop who’s been suspended from duty. But she’s still obsessed with solving the case of a missing child. The story unfolds in a discombobulating yet ultimately satisfying manner. 

Obviously I can’t say any more than that, but it’s a good ‘un.

Growing Up Scottish – Thursday, BBC Scotland, 10pm

This bittersweet nostalgia-fest about coming of age in Scotland during the last three decades of the 20^th Century also doubles up as a talking head showcase for emerging comedians such as Rachel Jackson, Christopher Macarthur-Boyd and TJ Singh. 

Series two commences with an episode based around the intertwined themes of friendship and home. The comics ruminate on some of the pastimes we’d invent to amuse ourselves as children in those pre-internet days. Anything would do just as long as it staved off the ultimate malaise: boredom. 

They also discuss the complex rules of sleepovers, while reflecting upon the vicissitudes of living in tenement flats, semi-detached houses, rented accommodation and even but ‘n’ bens. An amusing diversion.

LAST WEEK’S TV

The 1% Club – Saturday 30th April, STV

A big Saturday night quiz show hosted by Lee Mack? That sounds like fun. It’s not fun, it’s merely serviceable. 

The problem is self-evident: Mack, whose stock in trade is quick-fire improvised banter, is constrained by the format of a show in which 100 studio contestants are tasked with answering questions based on “logic and common sense”. His irreverent comic persona is entirely at odds with that premise. 

I’m not suggesting that Mack is some sort of maverick comedy genius, but he’s a naturally funny man who should be hosting a quiz in which he’s given carte blanche to mock proceedings a la Les Dawson on Blankety Blank. He’s not suited to a conventional show like this.

Love Life – Friday 6th May, BBC One

Season two of HBO’s romantic comedy anthology revolves around a new set of thirtysomething characters. 

Marcus and Mia are African Americans, which allows the writers to explore complex themes surrounding racial identity and cultural expectations. Marcus has never been in a long-term relationship with a black woman. His wife is white. But when he falls for Mia, who’s also in a relationship, he’s forced to confront an issue he’s always tiptoed around. 

That Love Life manages to navigate this territory in a witty, intelligent, nuanced way is a credit to the writers and cast. William Jackson Harper and Jessica Williams are charming and believable in their respective leading roles. This love story could be worth investing in.