What to watch
BBC ONE, 9.00PM
If the BBC were hoping to get tongues wagging with this new six-part drama series then they’ve certainly succeeded. Wanderlust, written by acclaimed playwright Nick Payne, is a frank take on love and sex, and features one of the more emotionally graphic love scenes shown on prime-time TV.
At its heart is Joy (Toni Collette), a therapist who is recovering from a bike accident and desperately trying to reconnect with her husband Alan (Steven Mackintosh) in the bedroom. But he’s a self-pitying teacher whose roving eye has been caught by younger colleague Claire (Zawe Ashton). Meanwhile, Joy’s own attention is drifting towards Marvin (William Ash), who attends her hydrotherapy class. The stage is set for a sexual merry-go-round. Except Payne has something rather more interesting and adult in mind. Wanderlust’s at times very funny script probes into the way in which we think about love and marriage, lust and sex, offering no easy answers. It’s anchored by a fearless performance from Collette, and seems sure to divide households across the UK (although anyone who doesn’t think that Alan is awful needs their head examined). Sarah Hughes