TV’S obsession with Fleabag-style sex addicts is no joke, say comedy stars
THE STAR of a new BBC sitcom has criticised TV commissioners for only wanting female-led comedies that are “sex-obsessed” like Fleabag.
Ellie White, who played Princess Beatrice in The Windsors, said many writers and stars had found themselves pigeonholed after the success of Phoebe Waller-bridge’s popular series.
White, who has also written comedy, told the Radio Times: “I remember when Fleabag first came out. I’d be pitching a show and I’d say ‘I’m writing a show based on a 19th-century farm’ and they’d go, ‘OK, but you could be a sex addict and talk to the camera …’
“Fleabag was amazing, but we don’t need another one. It was original and fresh. If you try to recreate something, it’s just going to be s---.”
Many subsequent television shows and other artistic ventures by women have been compared to Fleabag since the irreverent series took Britain by storm.
Daisy Haggard, who wrote and starred the in BBC dark comedy series Back to Life, was also frustrated to be constantly compared to Fleabag.
She said at the time: “Fleabag is amazing. Phoebe and I have hung out and she is a genius, but this is just not Fleabag. I look forward to a time when there’s so many women creating shows that we don’t think
‘Oh, a woman’s behind it, they must be from the same mould.’” White, 30, stars in the new BBC One sitcom The Other One, written by Holly Walsh. It also stars Rebecca Front, who played Nicola Murray, the hapless minister in The Thick of It, and Lauren Socha (inset below), famous for her role in Misfits.
The comedy series is entirely female-fronted and is set to air from next Friday. It tells the story of two longlost sisters who only find out they are related after the death of their bigamist father.
Front said she did not recall being in such a female-dominated show.
She told the magazine: “It is changing and I’ve seen a real difference in the past 15 years, but we mustn’t get complacent and say,
‘We’ve got the women thing now’, or ‘the black comedy thing’ or ‘the Asian thing’. This is a golden age for comedy, but now there is this outpouring of
great content, we have to keep it coming.”
White, who told the magazine that commissioners have since moved on from Fleabag, added that it was incredibly important to have female directors in order to avoid twodimensional female characters. The BBC has been commissioning more shows aimed at young people since the success of Fleabag, with plans to raise funding for BBC Three. According to the corporation, young people have flocked back to its services during the Covid-19 crisis, reversing a decline “in dramatic fashion”.
Nearly 60 per cent of 16-34-yearolds watched BBC national news bulletins in the first week of lockdown – double the number who watched in February.
Lord Hall, the corporation’s head, also hailed the success of Normal People, the BBC Three drama, which was streamed more than 16 million times in its first week. Its viewing figures were boosted by broadcasts on BBC One. Killing Eve and Fleabag also started life on BBC Three.
The first episode of The Other One will be shown on BBC One 9pm on Friday, June 5.