There are countless shows about female friendship, from Sex and the City to The Sex Lives of College Girls, but Channel 4's latest commission Big Mood promises to explore new territory and tackle the subject with vim, exploring a long-term friendship confronted by serious mental illness.
Navigating friendships through the turbulence of fluctuating mental health is something far more relatable than a lot of shows would have us believe and Big Mood is here to push that conversation forward. With an all-star cast and crew behind it, this six-part series features big names, takes on big themes and still guarantees big laughs. So, what's it all about?
What's Big Mood about?
According to Channel 4, Big Mood follows a series of chaotic events that put lead characters Maggie and Eddie’s decade-long friendship to the test. 'With the pair at a pivotal point in their lives, and Maggie’s bipolar disorder making an unwelcome return, Eddie begins to question whether this friendship is really in their best interests.'
Who's in the cast of Big Mood?
The lead roles Maggie and Eddie are played by Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan and It's A Sin's Lydia West.
They are also joined by Niamh Cusack (The Virtues), Eamon Farren (The Witcher), Luke Fetherston (Flowers in the Attic: The Origin), Kate Fleetwood (Wheel of Time), Rob Gilbert (Big Boys), Rebecca Lowman (Prime Suspect), Sally Phillips (Veep), Ukweli Roach (Wolf) and Amalia Vitale (Willow).
Other members of the cast include Olu Adaeze (Top Boy), Max Bennett (Poldark), Skylar Betteridge, David Bedella (Inside No. 9), Tim Downie (Toast of London), Ron Donachie, Sarah Durham (Sex Education), Lara Grace Ilori, Neil Edmond, Amy Gledhill (Alma’s Not Normal), content creator Maddie Grace Jepson, Tom Rhys Harries (White Lines), Layla-Belle Matthews, Simon Meacock (Outlander), David Mumeni (Stath Lets Flats), David Newman, Freya Parker (Lazy Susan), Shuna Snow, Sid Sagar, Stephen Sobal, Lottie Tolhurst, Isobel Thom, Robin Weaver (Extraordinary).
Who wrote Big Mood?
Big Mood is created by actor and writer Camilla Whitehill. And unsurprisingly while working on a show about the intricacies of female friendship, she's close friends with leading lady Nicola already. Speaking to Variety about the show, Nicola confirmed, 'We met like a million years ago at drama school in Oxford. She was training to be an actor and then when we left drama school, we were both in various states of not working and everything being a bit crap.
'And she was like "I'm not going to be an actor, I want to write." I went to see her first short play night and she was just - she's always been insanely funny - but then, when I saw it, I was like, "Oh, she's gonna be a famous writer".
'But our 20s were like the struggle bus. And then the fact now the show is happening... I've always wanted to work with her. And then for Lydia to be part of it is the biggest dream.'
Big Mood is directed by Rebecca Asher (Dead to Me, Brooklyn Nine Nine), executive produced by Lotte Beasley Mestriner (The Young Offenders) and produced by Georgie Fallon (The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies). So yes, it's got a pretty impressive team behind it.
When does Big Mood start?
Unfortunately, we don't have an exact launch date for Big Mood just yet. But as soon as the date or trailer arrives, we'll spread the word.
