Ladybaby

This was a funny 25 minute episode/pilot that I hope is the start of a new series. I am interested to see how the relationship develops between birth mother and daughter.

Please please please please make the series this has so much potential.this has a great cast and loveable characters.

Amy Manson has such a wide range of acting you feel like you just want to give her a hug in this role great actress and the chemistry she has with her on teen daughter actress Mirren Mack they bounce off each other really well I really would like to watch this as a series.

Shot atmospherically very much like a drama, Ladybaby couldn't quite decide whether it was drama or comedy or a hybrid and that was its main failing.

The script and situations weren't funny enough to pass as a comedy or well developed enough to make it as a drama and it felt contrived rather than authentic.

The protagonist lead was a bit of a pain in the arse (and in comedies they very often are) but they also need to be counterbalanced by being likeable in some way and funny with it, which they weren't here.

Needs a serious rethink if they're going to make a series. For me it was a very long twenty five minutes with very few laughs and a dull storyline.

Trawl through the long alphabetical list of comedies on iPlayer and you'll occasionally stumble on a gem like this. It's not the story that's important, it's always the dialogue and the characters. A funny character like that is usually only created when the actor plays an exaggerated version of themselves (Partridge, Brent). It was a surprise to discover that she wasn't also the writer. She certainly seems to be on the same wavelength as the writer.

The dialogue in the cafe is brilliant, as she slowly realises that her young daughter is both more successful and more mature than she is. And drunkenly marauding around A&E is very funny (you're probably not allowed to do that anymore).

But the best scene is at her parents' house. Her mild-mannered father uses TV as a coping mechanism when his passive aggressive wife and feisty daughter get together for a row. "It should be called Strictly Come Leapin Aboot!"

I hope that the writer writes more for this character.