Fleabag (2016)

Fleabag is a British comedy-drama television series created and written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, based on her one-woman show first performed in 2013 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The series was produced by Two Brothers Pictures for digital channel BBC Three, in a co-production agreement with Amazon Studios. Waller-Bridge stars as the title character, a free-spirited but angry and confused young woman living in London. Sian Clifford co-stars as Fleabag's sister Claire, with Andrew Scott joining in the second series; most of the show's main characters are unnamed, including Waller-Bridge's and Scott's. The protagonist frequently breaks the fourth wall, providing exposition, internal monologues, and running commentary to the audience.

The show premiered on 21 July 2016 and concluded its second and final series on 8 April 2019. It received widespread acclaim from critics, particularly for its writing, acting, and the uniqueness and personality of the title character. Many critics and viewers have called it one of the greatest comedy series of all time as well as one of the greatest television series of all time. Waller-Bridge won the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for the first series, with the second series earning her Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress, and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series; additional nominations include acting categories received by Clifford, Olivia Colman, and guest stars Fiona Shaw and Kristin Scott Thomas. The series received the Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series and Best Actress for Waller-Bridge, and a nomination for Scott.

The show is adapted from Waller-Bridge's 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe one-woman play of the same name, which previewed at Soho Theatre before its Edinburgh debut and won a Fringe First Award. Following Edinburgh, Fleabag returned to Soho Theatre for an Off West End run later in 2013. At the 2014 Off West End Theatre Awards (the Offies), Waller-Bridge won both Best Female Performance and Most Promising New Playwright for the production. The initial idea of the character of Fleabag came from a challenge by a friend, where Waller-Bridge was given the task of creating a sketch for a 10-minute section in a stand-up storytelling night.

Cast and characters

Main

Phoebe Waller-Bridge as "Fleabag"

Sian Clifford as Claire, Fleabag's sister with whom she shares an uneasy relationship

Andrew Scott as The Priest (series 2), with whom Fleabag falls in love

Supporting

Ben Aldridge as Arsehole Guy (series 1; guest series 2), one of Fleabag's love interests, so named for his taste for anal sex

Hugh Skinner as Harry, Fleabag's on-off boyfriend then eventual ex

Hugh Dennis as Bank Manager (series 1; guest series 2), approached by Fleabag for a loan

Jenny Rainsford as Boo, Fleabag's deceased best friend and business partner

Bill Paterson as Fleabag and Claire's father

Olivia Colman as Fleabag and Claire's godmother, who began a relationship with their father not long after their mother's death and eventually becomes their stepmother

Brett Gelman as Martin, Claire's aggressive alcoholic husband

Guest

Jamie Demetriou as Bus Rodent (series 1), one of Fleabag's love interests

Fiona Shaw as Fleabag's counsellor (series 2)

Jo Martin as Pam (series 2), who works at the priest's church

Ray Fearon as Hot Misogynist (series 2), who serves as Fleabag's lawyer and one of her love interests

Angus Imrie as Jake (series 2), Martin's teenage son and Claire's stepson

Kristin Scott Thomas as Belinda (series 2), a successful businesswoman who meets Fleabag at an awards ceremony presented by Claire

Jenny Robbins as Lesley (series 2), Claire's co-worker

Christian Hillborg as Klare (series 2), Claire's Finnish business partner and love interest

Episodes

Series 1 (2016)

Series 2 (2019)

Distribution and broadcast

BBC Three was the original broadcast channel for the show with a repeat run broadcast on BBC Two between 21 August and 25 September 2016. The second series was broadcast on BBC One at the same time as being released on BBC Three, by this time only available online.

It was picked up by the on-demand Amazon Prime Video (formerly Amazon Video) service and premiered in the United States on 16 September 2016. Series 2 was released in the US on 17 May 2019. Fleabag is also available on IFC in the US. In the Netherlands, it was picked up by Net5.

The show has been remade for French television by Jeanne Herry. Titled Mouche (French for 'fly', the insect), it started airing on 3 June 2019 on pay channel Canal+. Mouche is a close remake, though set in Paris with Camille Cottin in the starring role.

Production

Filming

Filming took place in and around London, mostly North West and Central with the primary location being Dartmouth Park, North West London. Street scenes were filmed on five main roads in the area, including Southampton Road, Laurier Road, Croftdown Road, Highgate Road, and York Rise. Other locations include Twickenham, Hampton Hill, Highgate, Tufnell Park, Belsize Park, Maida Vale, Kentish Town, Parliament Hill Fields in Hampstead Heath, Southwark, Bloomsbury, Soho, Stanmore, Lincoln's Inn Fields and Finsbury Square.

Bold Café & Restaurant in Dartmouth Park was used for Fleabag's Guinea Pig Café. Dad and Godmother's house was on Cambridge Park Road in Twickenham. The feminist lecture was at the British Museum's Lecture Theatre in Russell Square. The graveyard that Fleabag jogged through daily was at Kensal Green Cemetery. The silent retreat that Fleabag and Claire attended on Mother's Day was filmed at Hedsor House, an Italianate-style mansion used as a wedding venue in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

The second and final series premiered with a family dinner party filmed at the American steakhouse Smith & Wollensky in Covent Garden. Hot Priest's church was the Romanian Orthodox and former Anglican church St. Andrew's in Kingsbury. Godmother's sexhibition was held at the Tate Modern in Bankside. Claire's penthouse office was filmed from Heron Tower in Bishopsgate. The funeral was filmed at St Dunstan and All Saints Church in Stepney. The hair salon was 137 – Taylor and Taylor in Shoreditch.

Filming for the first series started in late April 2016, and was released from 21 July to 25 August 2016. Filming for the second and final series started in late August 2018 and was released from 4 March to 8 April 2019.

Music

Waller-Bridge's sister, Isobel Waller-Bridge, composed the music for both series.

Reception

Critical response

Both series of Fleabag received widespread acclaim from television critics. At review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, both series received approval ratings of 100%. The first series received an average rating of 8.5/10, based on 42 reviews, with the site's critical consensus reading: "Clever and viciously funny, Fleabag is a touching, wildly inventive comedy about a complicated young woman navigating the aftermath of trauma." The second series received an average rating of 9.3/10, based on 99 reviews, with the critical consensus stating: "Fleabag jumps back into the fray with a bracing second season that upholds its predecessor's frenzied wit and delicate heart, replete with Phoebe Waller-Bridge's indefatigable charisma". At Metacritic, the first series received a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 19 critics, while the second series received a score of 96, based on 21 critics, both signifying "universal acclaim".

Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker described the first series as "a precision black-humour mechanism, a warped and affecting fable about one single woman's existence." Maureen Ryan at Variety called it "scathingly funny", concluding that "long after it's pulled you in with its irreverence and jokes about sex, and beguiled you with its cutting wit and messily human characters, it reveals that it's actually a tragedy". Hank Stuever of The Washington Post characterised it as a "funny, highly profane but surprisingly poignant dramedy". Mike Hale in The New York Times praised the show for its "restless, almost feral energy and its slap-in-the-face attitude." Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times commended its unpredictability, acting, and "clear eye for truth that often becomes, like all good comedy, quite devastating".

The second series received unanimous acclaim and was considered a cultural phenomenon. Serena Davies of The Daily Telegraph lauded the second series as "a near-perfect work of art". Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon praised its "brilliant swan song", finding the series's conclusion satisfying and "well-earned". For Rolling Stone, Alan Sepinwall wrote that the "tragicomic masterpiece reaches new heights in its second outing". James Poniewozik of The New York Times wrote that "the new season feels immediately confident, if inevitably less groundbreaking. Yet it continues to push its form". Hannah Jane Parkinson of The Guardian described the conclusion as "the most electrifying, devastating TV in years," writing of the second series that "it seems as though many who either did not watch the first series, or who didn't think it lived up to the hype, have been converted".

According to Metacritic's aggregate of decade-end lists, Fleabag was the second-highest ranked show of the 2010s. It has since been considered by multiple publications to be one of the greatest television series of all time. In September 2019, Fleabag became the first British show to win Best Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards in the United States.

Former United States President Barack Obama named the second season of Fleabag among his favourite films and television series of 2019. In his annual list, which he released on Twitter on 29 December 2019, he added a small addendum with the title, "and a quick list of TV shows that I considered as powerful as movies: Fleabag: Season 2, Unbelievable, and Watchmen."

Accolades

Stage play

Television series

Home media

References

External links

Fleabag at BBC Online

Fleabag at IMDb