HAVE you binge-watched it yet? All 12 half-hour episodes of Normal People, the new adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel of the same name, dropped on BBC Three on Sunday and have already been widely praised. The first two episodes appeared on BBC One last night
What’s the story?
It is a tale of first love. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as Marianne and Paul Mescal as Connell, it follows the two of them from school in Sligo to university in Dublin over four years. He’s a bit of a jock and she’s studious, middle-class and a little aloof. But there is a mutual attraction. The story follows their relationship.
What is all this about an intimacy co-ordinator?
Because the series doesn’t shy away from sexuality, an intimacy coordinator, Ita O’Brien, was hired to choreograph the sex scenes to help ensure the actors were comfortable and felt secure.
Who is behind the TV series?
Sally Rooney has been involved in the scriptwriting alongside screenwriter Alice Birch. It has been directed by Irish director Lenny Abrahamson, best known for his films What Richard Did and Room, and Hettie Macdonald, who has a CV that includes Doctor Who and Howard’s End.
Why is everyone so excited about it?
Because the novel is such a big deal. Rooney’s book has been a huge success, selling some half a million copies in the UK since its publication in 2018. Its author has been described as a “Salinger for the Snapchat generation,” and Irish author Sebastian Barry has suggested that: “There is a time before Sally Rooney and a time after.”
If it’s such a big deal, why did it appear online first?
The BBC has a problem attracting younger viewers. The average age of BBC One viewers is thought to be 61 and last autumn Ofcom reported: “We're concerned that a new generation is tuning out of its services.”
Normal People is the latest BBC experiment in streaming its programmes in an attempt to tap into younger viewers, familiar with the Netflix model, who are more used to watching programmes in their own time. It has already done the same with dramas like Killing Eve and sitcoms such as This Country and Young Offenders.
This isn’t the only Sally Rooney drama we can expect, is it?
No, the BBC have already commissioned an adaptation of Rooney’s debut novel Conversations with Friends. According to Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama: “We are all addicted to Sally Rooney’s writing and will plunder her literary canon as long as she is writing.”
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