''True Love'' is a five-episode 2012 semi-improvised

BBC television drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...

, which began on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

on 17 June 2012. Each episode is a self-contained story (though there is some cross-over between all the episodes), devised through improvisation (a first for BBC One drama), exploring an issue related to love and relationships. Was related to whom ''True Love'' had its first public screening at the

Turner Contemporary Turner Contemporary is one of the UK’s leading contemporary art galleries. Celebrating Margate’s connection with the painter J.M.W. Turner (1775 – 1851), an artist who believed that art could be an agent of change, its year-round exhibition ...

in Margate on 29 March 2012. The series premiered on 17 June 2012 on

, the remaining four episodes being

stripped Stripped may refer to: Music * "Stripped" (song), by Depeche Mode, 1986 * ''Stripped'' (Christina Aguilera album) or the title song, 2002 * ''Stripped'' (Daniel Ash album), 2014 * ''Stripped'' (Macy Gray album), 2016 * ''Stripped'' (Pretty Ma ...

across the next three nights, with the final two airing as a double-bill on 20 June. ''True Love'' was originally titled ''Love Life'' but was re-titled to avoid confusion with an ITV series with the same title.

Plot

While each episode is self-contained, the series is set in the English seaside town of

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. There is some overlap between episodes. *Episode one centres on Nick (

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

), whose happy marriage is turned upside-down by the reappearance of his first love. *Episode two centres on Paul ( Ashley Walters), who is married to Michelle (

Lacey Turner Lacey Amelia Turner (born 28 March 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Stacey Slater on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2004–2010, 2014–present), for which she has won over thirty awards, including four ...

), a new father who experiences "

love at first sight Love at first sight is a personal experience as well as a common trope in literature: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. Described by p ...

". *Episode three centres on Holly (

Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...

), a teacher who lives alone and is in an unhappy affair with a married man. Holly develops feelings for a student in her class (

Kaya Scodelario Kaya Rose Scodelario-Davis ( née Humphrey; born 13 March 1992) is an English actress best known for her roles as Effy Stonem on the E4 teen drama '' Skins'' (2007–2010, 2013), and Teresa in the ''Maze Runner'' film series (2014–2018). Ot ...

). *Episode four centres on Sandra (

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...

), a middle-aged woman in a stale marriage to an unfaithful husband. Jane Horrocks plays a shop keeper who is trapped in a loveless relationship and embarks on a passionate affair with a mysterious man. *Episode five centres on Adrian (

David Morrissey David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. Described by the British Film Institute as "one of the most versatile English actors of his generation", he is noted for the meticulous preparation and research h ...

), a divorcé who lives in a flat in a tower block with his 16-year-old daughter. He begins a relationship with a woman he meets through the Internet. At the same time, his daughter's best friend ( Jo Woodcock) develops an unrequited

obsessive love Obsessive love or obsessive love disorder (OLD) is a proposed condition in which one person feels an overwhelming obsessive desire to possess and protect another person, sometimes with an inability to accept failure or rejection. Symptoms include ...

for him.

Filming

''True Love'' was filmed entirely in Margate and surrounding areas between early September and mid-October 2011. Billie Piper's episode was partially shot at The Charles Dickens School in Broadstairs, where some of the current students were invited to be extras, filming scenes alongside Piper. Other prominent locations include

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

, Westwood Cross shopping centre, and

Margate railway station Margate railway station serves the town of Margate in Thanet, Kent, England. It is down the line from . The station and all trains that serve the station are operated by Southeastern. Trains from the station generally run to Victoria via or t ...

Cast

as Nick (appears in episode 1) * Ashley Walters as Paul (appears in episode 2) *

as Holly (appears in episode 3) *

as Sandra (appears in episode 4) *

as Adrian (appears in episode 5) *

Vicky McClure Victoria Lee McClure (born 8 May 1983) is an English actress, model and presenter. She is known for her roles as Detective Inspector Kate Fleming in the BBC series ''Line of Duty'' (2012–present) and Lol Jenkins in Shane Meadows' film ''Thi ...

as Serena, Nick's first love (appears in episode 1) *

Jaime Winstone Jaime Margaret Winstone (born 6 May 1985) is an English actress, best known for her roles in '' Kidulthood'', '' Dead Set'', '' After Hours'' and her portrayal of Barbara Windsor in ''Babs''. Early life and education Winstone was born in Camd ...

as Stella, Paul's lover (appears in episode 2) *

as Karen, Holly's pupil and lover, and Adrian's daughter (appears in episodes 3 and 5) *

Alexander Siddig Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (born 21 November 1965) is a Sudanese-born English actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig. Siddig i ...

as Ismail, Sandra's lover (appears in episode 4) *

Gemma Chan Gemma Chan (born 29 November 1982) is an English actress. Born and raised in London, Chan attended the Newstead Wood School for Girls and studied law at Worcester College, Oxford before choosing to pursue a career in acting instead, enrolling at t ...

as Kathy, Adrian's lover (appears in episode 5) *

Joanne Froggatt Joanne Froggatt (born 23 August 1980) is a British actress. From 2010 to 2015, she portrayed Anna Bates in the ITV period drama series ''Downton Abbey''. For this role, she received three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a ...

as Ruth, Nick's wife (appears in episode 1) *

as Michelle, Serena's younger sister and Paul's wife (appears in episodes 1 and 2) * Jo Woodcock as Lorraine, Nick's daughter and Karen's best friend (appears in episodes 1, 3 and 5) *

Charlie Creed-Miles Charlie Creed-Miles (born 24 March 1972) is an English actor and musician. Creed-Miles was born in Nottingham, and had his first starring screen role, aged 21, in ''The Punk'' (1993). His brief relationship with actress Samantha Morton Sam ...

as David, Sandra's husband and Holly's lover (appears in episodes 3 and 4) *

Jenny Agutter Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in '' East of Sudan'', ''Star!'', and two adaptations of '' The Railway Children''—the BBC's 1968 television seria ...

as Holly's mother (appears in episode 3) *Luke Bryant as Darren, Nick's son (appears in episode 1) *Peter McNeil O'Connor as Jim, Nick's friend (appears in episode 1) *Aymen Hamdouchi as Gavin, Paul's friend (appears in episode 2) *Vahid Gold as Chris, one of Holly's pupils (appears in episode 3) * Genevieve Barr as Sarah, Sandra's daughter (appears in episode 4) * Neil Bell as Phil, Adrian's friend (appears in episode 5)

Ratings

Episode-viewing figures are from

Broadcast Now ''Broadcast'' is a monthly magazine for the United Kingdom television and radio industry, owned by Media Business Insight. History ''Broadcast'' was started in 1973 by Rod Allen, who went on to work at LWT, HTV and HarperCollinsInteractive. ...

and Digital Spy.

Reception

The first episode was received negatively by most critics. Reviewing the episode for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', Isabel Mohan criticised the plot and

backdrop, both of which she found uninspiring, while Sam Wollaston of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' compared the storyline, overlaid with sentimental music, unfavourably to an edition of the ''

Our Tune ''Our Tune'' is a long-standing feature/segment on British radio presented by broadcaster Simon Bates. Having begun by at least 1979 it was originally part of his mid-morning show on BBC Radio 1, where it aired daily throughout the 1980s and ear ...

'' radio feature. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

s Terence Blacker was also unenthusiastic: "It messed up the story, revealing the outcome of a will-they-won't-they tale of infidelity before a single word of dialogue had been spoken."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:True Love (Tv Series) 2010s British drama television series 2012 British television series debuts 2012 British television series endings 2010s British LGBT-related drama television series BBC television dramas Television shows set in Kent Television shows shot in Kent 2010s British television miniseries English-language television shows Television series by Working Title Television