4.359 minSeason 1 • Episode 6
LatestJoy and Alan face up to the seismic changes in their lives and try to decide if their choices are the right ones. After a tense encounter with Claire, a lost and lonely Joy takes a risk on love and goes on a bold journey. Meanwhile, Tom's new relationship progresses in a surprising way.
Joy Richards is a therapist trying to find a way to keep the spark with her husband, Alan, after a cycling accident causes her to reassess their relationship. As family, friends, neighbours and clients live their lives, stories of love, lust and forbidden desire emerge.
Acting
Toni Collette's micro-expressions deserve their own Emmy
Writing
Nick Payne's dialogue cuts like therapy you didn't ask for
Production
Manchester as character: gray, honest, unromantic
Creator
Nick Payne
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released on BBC One in 2018, this quietly radical series aired during peak prestige TV's obsession with marriage stories—yet few dared to be this unsentimental about middle-aged women's desire.
Nick Payne adapted his own 2010 Royal Court play, expanding two characters into six episodes of domestic archaeology. The original had no children—Tom and the Richards kids were invented entirely for TV.
GB
