The wonderful British series One Day is a moving romantic comedy drama that spans two decades.
It is based on the bestseller by David Nicholls and stars Ambika Mod (from This is Going To Hurt) as working-class Emma Morley and posh-boy Leo Woodall (The White Lotus) as Dexter Mayhew.
They meet on July 15, 1988, right after they graduate school. They hit it off, spent both night and day together and fool around a bit. But when it looks like they could end up in a relationship, they are interrupted by Dexter’s parents, nothing further comes of it.
They are too different, anyway, not only in class but also personality wise, and they have different plans. Emma wants to make a difference in the world as a writer, Dexter just wants to have fun and become famous.
They decide to stay friends instead, and keep in touch over the years, as they move through life separately, through jobs and various relationships And they do reconnect, again and again, including some high and low points, which ultimately begs the question, are these two meant for each other or not?
The date July 15 is important, since almost all episodes take place on that particular date, for fourteen years in a row- that’s right, all fourteen episode cover one day (they mostly run from 25 to 30 minutes).
This approach gives the series the chance to experiment with lots of different story telling devices - sometimes focusing on just one of the characters- and visual styles, and lots of room to give the actors different hair and clothing, as well as lots of supporting actors to spar with. (I’m saying lots of ‘lots’, but this series contains multitudes.)
There’s also lots of great music, from the likes of The The, Massive Attack, Orange Juice, The House of Love, The Pixies, Soul II Soul, The Waterboys, New Order and lots of other iconic artists from the eighties and nineties.
But most interesting are the two main characters, who are smart, funny, charming and very human; as well as the story, since there are lots of nuances and details here which are bound to make watching One Day a very rich and rewarding experience.
Created by Nicole Taylor, and directed by (amongst others) Molly Manners and Luke Mellin, the filmmakers have done an exemplary job of turning the Nicholls’ bestseller into world class entertainment.
(It’s also much better than the stilted movie adaptation from 2011, which miscast American actress Anne Hathaway as a working class Brit girl.)
So if you like series like Normal People (or movies like Brief Encounter, the Before Sunrise-trilogy or even Wong Kar-Wai’s romantic classic In The Mood For Love) this is definitely a show for you!