Featuring a cracking soundtrack and zingers that could rival a particular dowager countess, British comedy series The Other One is set for its premiere in the US.
It’s lovely, really. Smart and sassy, with humorous and touching moments and Supertramp tunes!
It is The Other One, the brilliant new comedy series created and written by Holly Walsh (Motherland) and Pippa Brown (Psychobitches).
The series follows two young women, both named Catherine Walcott. The one who goes by Cathy (Ellie White, The Windsors, Stath Lets Flats) is a rather rigid, occasionally obsessive reinsurance professional engaged to a doctor. The other, who goes by Cat (Lauren Socha, Misfits, Catastrophe), is a single, happy-go-lucky gig economy worker for Deliveroo.
Neither has any idea the other exists until the funeral of their shared father, Colin, who was married to Cathy’s mum, Tess (Rebecca Front, The Thick Of It, Poldark, Love, Lies & Records), while having an affair with Cat’s mum, Marilyn (Siobhan Finneran, Downton Abbey, Happy Valley, Loch Ness), for the past thirty years. To prevent confusion and getting caught in his double life, Colin gave both daughters, born five days apart, the same name.
The sisterly bonding begins when Cathy visits Cat and Marilyn regarding Colin’s ashes, most notably during the half-sisters’ version of Carpool Karaoke to “Goodbye Stranger” while en route to a suitable spot for scattering them.
Meanwhile, Marilyn, an “anti-fresh air” chain smoker with a high sex drive and low-grade agoraphobia (if there is such a thing), misses Colin but is at peace, whereas Tess rages in anger at her deceased husband, his mistress and his other daughter, and sets about making up for decades of lost time by setting up profiles on a very long list of dating sites and apps.
As the date of Cathy and Marcus’s (Amit Shah, The Witcher) wedding quickly approaches, Cathy and Cat spend more time together and have more (mis)adventures together — their joint birthday party, Cat’s bike-riding lesson and Cathy’s hen do, to name a few — during which they encounter a male stripper and a surprise customer at special pub, amongst others.
In the process the two grow closer, with each #sisterfromthesamemister helping the other to deal with whatever comes up, including unfulfilled promises, longstanding hurts, and grief.
The Other One offers a fresh and funny and touching take on the themes of love and family, grief and healing, anger and forgiveness. Its laugh-out-loud and hand-to-heart moments can be one and the same scene and leave you both guffawing and sighing “awww.”
All of the actors deliver fabulous performances, with my personal favorites being those of Siobhan Finneran (who, by the way, looks freaking amazing in under attire) and Lauren Socha, whose portrayals of Marilyn and Cat, two breaths-of-fresh-air characters in my book, felt liberating.
And props go to the person(s) on the production team who selected the catchy, singalong tunes in the series, which include pop songs from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s from the Captain and Tennille, Cyndi Lauper, Dolly Parton, Free, Hall & Oates, Rupert Holmes, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Stevie Nicks, Orleans, The Rascals, Todd Rundgren, and (more) Supertramp, plus dance tunes from this century.
I adore this show and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Guest stars include Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks) as Mr. Shippen, Cathy’s now-retired geography teacher, Caroline Quentin (Blue Murder) as her Auntie Dawn (on her mother’s side), and Simon Greenall (Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge) as Colin.
The Other One, an Acorn Original series, premieres in the US on Monday, August 10, with all seven binge-worthy episodes exclusively on Acorn TV and its digital channels and apps, including Acorn TV on Amazon Channels, Roku, etc.
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