Rosie Molloy Gives Up Everything

icdg

Surprised there seems to be no thread for this Sky Comedy series, starring Sheridan Smith as a vaguely second-generation Irish-English Manchester accountant who is a bit off the rails and decides to put herself back on it.

It’s an interesting concept, though Sky are playing it as a pure comedy it touches on some absolutely too-close-to-home perhaps issues about alcohol (and other) addictions that may make it uncomfortable viewing as a comedy. (Some might remember RTE’s Cant Cope Won’t Cope, also meant to be a comedy, with similar issues but younger protagonists, that RTE in the end had hard trouble billing it as such and decided to market it as a drama)

Rosie’s parents are played by Fr Ted alumni Pauline McLynn and Ardal O’Hanlon, and steal the scenes they are in (not enough, I’m afraid). They’re meant to be a “hands across the barricades” couple from NI but I’m not sure why the writers took this angle because they’re mostly played as generically Irish (McLynn tries the accent but mangled it O’Hanlon doesn’t bother really). The other characters we meet in episodes 1 &2 are quite one dimensional I’m afraid - the brother she grows estranged from, her sister in law, supposed best friend (or assistant? Not really clear), her flat mate who wants to keep her firmly off the rails and a yoga instructor. Only as far as the end of episode 2 and while I think it falls flat in how it treats addiction there’s enough jokes to keep watching.

Spoiler Warning

Unfortunately O’Hanlon’s character doesn’t make it past the second episode, this doesn’t come as a complete shock as it’s well flagged that he’s not got long left, but still disappointing as despite the lack of a Northern accent he and McLynn steal the show. Unless there’s some twist that he’s not really dead to come - not sure it’s that kind of show.

Atlantic Dawn

Binged this last weekend, didn't think it was great at all.