Opening the sex-f iles with Scully
SEX EDUCATION
NETFLIX FROM TODAY
WHEN people think of Gillian Anderson, they tend to associate her with – obvs – The X-Files, or much more recently and a lot closer to home, her turn as a cop in The Fall.
Fine roles, both – but let’s be honest, neither was exactly buzzing with laughter.
But she gets a chance to explore her comedic side in Netflix’s latest dramedy, Sex Education.
Anderson plays Dr Jean Milburn, a stubborn yet resolutely open-minded sex therapist who lives with her 16-year-old son, Otis (Asa Butterfield).
Where she is practical and matter-of-fact, her son, like most 16-year-olds, is rather more confused about the whole messy subject.
But after being subjected to numerous conversations and videos about the matter, Otis and his best friend Maeve start their own secret sex therapy clinic to help their fellow High School pupils with their own sexual problems.
Anderson is excellent in pretty much everything she does, although it will probably be a bit jarring for people raised on The X-Files to see the woman they will always call ‘Scully’ cracking wise and talking about sex to a kid.
The whole High School milieu has been so pervasively mined by various movies and TV shows down the decades that, at this stage, half of us must feel as if we had gone to school in the States and all the recognisable tropes – bad girl, bully, geeky kid, etc – are on show.
But this is a very, very different take on a familiar genre, and while Netflix is consistently guilty of throwing so much content at us that it’s simply impossible to keep up, this one should be given special attention...
A treat tonight for music lovers with Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On? (Sky Arts, 9pm).
The greatest Motown album of all time, arguably the best album of the 1960s (I know it was released in ‘71, but it’s a quintessential endof-decade album) and quite simply a masterpiece to be spoken of in the same awed tones as Pet Sounds, What’s Going On? remains a truly remarkable record.
In fact, I stuck it on the other day and it was like hearing it again for the first time.
The man himself was as troubled as the issues he confronts on the record, and this documentary is a welcome chance to wallow in some great music while learning about some of the demons that drove a tortured soul who would ultimately be killed by his own father.
If you missed the first airing on Thursday night, you should try to check out Gogglebox Ireland Does The 80s & 90s (VM1, tomorrow, 12pm). It’s genuinely funny.