FLEABAG

Phoebe Waller-bridge’s game-changing comedy is back for a second series

the decision to bring back actor/ writer Phoebe Waller-bridge’s caustic comedy for a second series wasn’t made lightly, even though the 2016 show swiftly became a cultural phenomenon, with glowing reviews and award nominations both in the UK and US. The disarmingly candid story of one woman’s experiences of sex and sadness started out as a one-hour play in which Waller-bridge acted every part. By the time the six-episode TV version was shown on BBC Three, Waller-bridge struggled with the idea of stretching the story of a sexually fixated, confessional young woman “even further than [she’d] already stretched it.”

Adapting the original stage version was quite a task to start with. Characters needed to be fleshed out – Olivia Colman’s ghastly ‘Godmother’ expanded from a one-line mention –and dramatic beats were defined by moving around Post-it Notes on a wall in Waller-bridge’s flat. But by the end of the first series, “It felt like the relationship with the audience had evolved,” she says.

Then on a bus one day (Waller-bridge evidently hasn’t let the success of Killing Eve go to her head), inspiration struck for series two. Itwill air early next year with Olivia Colman, Hugh Skinner, Sian Clifford and Bill Paterson all returning, joined by Sherlock’s Andrew Scott as a new addition to the cast.

For the second series to match the success of the first, it will need to have the same knack for snapping between outrageously frank gags and breath-catching human pain. That’s Waller-bridge’s speciality. “If people are laughing, they’re giving you their heart,” she explains. “They’re sort of asking you to break it.” We’re ready for Fleabag to break our hearts all over again.