Sex in suburbia
ANEW comedy from Julia Davies is always an event worth celebrating. You know it’s going to be full of fantastic characters, super sharp and twisted dialogue and just enough darkness to be shockingly hilarious.
There is plenty of all that on display in this new series from the creator of Camping and Nighty Night, who writes, directs and stars.
The Sally of the title is in a crushingly dull relationship with her partner of ten years, David.
Theirs is an entirely boring and beige existence, not helped by the fact that he has wildly annoying habits and somewhat creepy tendencies.
And when he proposes (or rather repeatedly whines and begs her to marry him, whilst weeping) she gets a glimpse into a rather grim future.
So then when she sees Emma on the tube – all brightly coloured, wild and adventurous – she’s intrigued.
They meet again on the street, where Emma’s handing out flyers and seductive glances. And later that night while David’s fast asleep, Sally gets glammed and glittered up and heads out to a gay club to see the bohemian artist performing.
And against all rhyme and reason, the pair embark on something resembling a relationship, meaning a completely unexpected and revolutionary sexual reawakening for our heroine – which they really don’t shy away from showing.
Despite all the bits on show and acrobatics in evidence, it’s one of the least erotic sex scenes ever, thanks to its juxtaposition with David’s night time ablution rituals, and a couple of classic Davies “oh no she didn’t!” moments.
Sally is played by Peep Show’s Catherine Shepherd, Emma is (of course) Julia Davies, while Alexander Macqueen shows that he’s probably the world’s least vain actor as he brings David unpleasantly to life.