''Personal Affairs'' (also known as ''P.A's'') is a 2009 British television

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

series, broadcast on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. It starred

Annabel Scholey Annabel Scholey (born 1983 or 1984) is an English actress. She has performed extensively on stage and is known for her roles in the BBC supernatural drama '' Being Human'' in 2009 and as Anne-Marie Blake in the true crime drama miniseries '' Th ...

Laura Aikman Laura Holly Aikman (born 24 December 1985) is an English actress. She has appeared in an array of television shows including '' The Mysti Show'' (2004–2005), ''Casualty'' (2009–2010), '' Lemon La Vida Loca'' (2012–2013), ''4 O'Clock Club'' ...

Maimie McCoy Mary McCoy, professionally known as Maimie McCoy (born April 21, 1979) is an English actress. She portrayed Milady de Winter in ''The Musketeers'' (2014–2016), and is the female lead in the ITV reboot series ''Van der Valk'' (2020–). Early ...

and

Ruth Negga Ruth Negga ( ; born 4 May 1981) is an Irish actress known for her roles in the AMC television series ''Preacher'' (2016–2019) and the film '' Loving'' (2016). For her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the latter, Negga received a nomination for ...

as four

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

Personal Assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task. It is a subspecialty of secretarial duties ...

s looking for their lost friend Grace Darling ( Olivia Grant).

Production

The interior scenes were filmed at the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

drama studios in

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, whilst most of the exterior scenes were filmed in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Cast

Main

The PAs *

– Michelle "Midge" Lerner (Personal assistant to Simon Turner) *

– Lucy Baxter (Personal assistant to Iain Ebelthite) *

– Nicole Palmerston-Amory (Personal assistant to Rachel Klein) *

– Doris "Sid" Siddiqi (Temporary personal assistant to Rock van Gelder) * Olivia Grant – Grace Darling (Personal assistant to Rock van Gelder, before she went missing) * Jamie Davis – Robbie Gascoigne (Personal assistant to Jane Lesser) The Bosses *

Robert Gant Robert Gant (born Robert John Gonzalez; July 13, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ben Bruckner on the Showtime series '' Queer as Folk''. Early life and education Robert Gant was born as Robert Gonzalez in Tampa, Fl ...

– Rock van Gelder *

Darren Boyd Darren John Boyd is a British actor who starred in the Sky One series '' Spy'', for which he won BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Comedy Performance. His work in television and film spans comedy and drama. Early life Boyd was born in Hastings, Su ...

– Simon Turner *

Emily Bruni Emily Bruni (born 5 April 1975 in Exeter, Devon) is an English actress. Bruni has worked extensively in theatre, TV and film playing leading roles across all genres. Bruni’s recent credits include playing the sniper Shooter in Martin Campbell ...

– Rachel Klein *

Archie Panjabi Archana Panjabi (born 31 May 1972) is an English actress. She has had various roles in both British and American television including as Maya Roy in ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007), Kalinda Sharma in ''The Good Wife'' (2009–2015), Nas Kamal ...

– Jane Lesser *

Mark Benton Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in '' Early Doors'', Howard in '' Northern Lights'', Martin Pond in '' Barbara'' and the eponymous Frank Hathaway in '' Shakespeare & H ...

– Iain Ebelthite

Supporting

Recurring: *

Kieran Bew Kieran John Bew (born 18 August 1980) is an English actor, known for portraying Hugh Hammer in ''House of the Dragon'' , 'Big' Bill O’Hara in ''Warrior'', Alfonso, Duke of Calabria in ''Da Vinci's Demons'', '' Hans Christian Andersen: My ...

– Avi, Midge's first ever boyfriend *

Joe Absolom Joe Absolom (born 16 December 1978) is an English actor known for his roles as Matthew Rose in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Al Large in the ITV comedy drama ''Doc Martin''. Early life Absolom was born in Lewisham, London. A former ...

– Bob Baxter, Lucy's husband *

Al Weaver Alexander Paul Weaver (born 3 January 1981) is an English actor, writer and part-time director, best known for his role as curate Leonard Finch in the ITV series ''Grantchester'' (2014-present). Background Weaver was born in the Metropolita ...

– Crawford, Sid's first love (Episodes 1, 2, 5) *Ben Lloyd-Hughes – Dominic "Fitz" Fitzwallace (Episodes 2–5) * Anna Kerth – babysitter, (Episode 5) Minor: *

Annette Badland Annette Badland is a British actress known for a wide range of roles on television, radio, stage, and film. She is best known for her roles as Charlotte in the BBC crime drama series '' Bergerac'', Margaret Blaine in the BBC science fiction se ...

– Maihri Crawford, Crawford's mother

Episodes

Series One

* Episode One – ''"A Decent Proposal"'' : When Grace's boss Rock proposes, her life begins to unravel in a most unexpected way. * Episode Two – ''"Baby Boom or Bust"'' : The girls visit Grace's mysterious house, Midge's past catches up with her and a surprise visitor helps Lucy decide where her future lies. * Episode Three – ''"Between Rock and a Hard Place"'' : With Grace still missing, a nasty surprise makes the girls fear for her safety. * Episode Four – ''"Fool on the Hill"'' : Will Nicole dare to give love a chance? Midge comes face to face with the past. * Episode Five – ''"Vital Statistix"'' : The girls get closer to finding Grace. A guest brings chaos to the Hartmann Payne party. * Episode Six – ''"Connectivity"'' : The mystery around Grace is finally revealed... The theme used during the title sequence is 21st Century Life by Sam Sparro. NB. On the DVD and outside the UK, Series One comprises the six episodes listed here. However, only five episodes were broadcast in the UK. The Episode One BBC3 audiences saw was a 70-minute edited version of "A Decent Proposal" and "Baby Boom or Bust", with 50 minutes cut.

Reception

The series was panned by most reviewers. Alison Graham of the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' called it "life-sappingly dreadful" and asked, "how did a series so crunchingly awful actually make it to a television screen?" Tom Sutcliffe of ''

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 publis ...

'' described it as "Enid Blyton with added shagging", concluding: "It's terrible, but every now and then it glints oddly in the light in a way that makes it hard to write it off entirely."

References

External links

* * *{{IMDb title, 1156098 2009 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings 2000s British comedy-drama television series BBC Three original programming Television shows set in London British comedy-drama television shows