Fun in the sun?
An idyllic holiday isn’t all it seems in new BBC drama Two Weeks in August
BBC
- James Hibbs
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Holidaymakers grappling with personal squabbles and existential dread have become familiar TV drama territory in recent years, thanks to The White Lotus and The Four Seasons. Now, with Two Weeks in August, writer Catherine Shepherd brings us something different. “There are thematic similarities,” she says, “but this is really British in its tone and it’s not about the super-rich. We have so many connections with Americans, but we’re different in quite profound ways.”
The eight-part BBC drama centres on a group of university friends who reunite for a holiday in Greece. Some bring their children; all bring their psychological baggage. At the centre
is Zoe (Jessica Raine). The atmosphere is tense for Zoe and her husband Dan (Damien Molony) from the off, as they struggle with the group’s spending plans. Things only get more excruciating when an illicit kiss sends the group spiralling.
Jessica Raine mugs for the camera. BBC
“The financial situations are so different,” Raine says, comparing the series with other dramas of its ilk. “It’s incredibly relatable. The group just assumes everyone’s got £200 to put into a kitty and you can see Zoe and Dan want to run away. That low hum of anxiety permeates through the show.”
The cast were on location for five months, with Malta doubling for Greece – a key setting for Shepherd. “I used to go to Greece a lot,” she says. “Once, we were in Corfu at the end of a really nice day. We could see Albania across the water and we saw gunfire – people were shooting at each other. It struck me as the blackest of comedy that we continued to have dinner while that was going on, and emblematic
of what it’s like to be alive at the moment – trying to have a good time while bad things are going on.” James Hibbs
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Two Weeks in August, Saturday 9.00pm, 9.45pm BBC One.
Authors
James HibbsDrama Writer
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
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