The Change - Season 1

British dramedy series The Change gives menopause a face.

Wonderful television series that makes light of a heavy theme in a completely British way. During her fiftieth birthday party, Linda (Bridget Christie, Ghosts) discovers that her life is not the vibrant one she once imagined. Her husband Steve (Omid Djalili, Dickensian) sees her more as a house slave. He refuses to contribute. Their two children don't really help either. The result is that Linda chooses herself and takes a break from life.

The series is shaped by over-the-top characters who remain human and somewhat ordinary.

She does this in style on her motorcycle in a leather motorcycle suit. She ends her trip in a run-down caravan in the middle of the forest. The two rough-and-tumble white pit sisters Carmel (Monica Dolan, W1A) and Agnes (Susan Lynch, Happy Valley) not only rent out the caravan but also run a kind of eel café. It soon becomes clear that there is something loose in both.

That fits perfectly with the rest of the town in which Linda has ended up. Only the relatively calm Joy (Tanya Moodie, Motherland) seems somewhat normal. She too has her story, but in relation to Pig Man (Jerome Flynn, Game of Thrones), radioman The Verderer (Jim Howick, Ghosts) and the two aforementioned sisters, Joy is a breath of fresh air. This strange company ensures that Linda finds herself again in her own unique way. Unfortunately, this also applies to her husband and sister.

The series also touches on other themes. For example, the forest in which most of the story takes place is threatened. Contractors prefer asphalt to nature. The wayward residents find each other to fight in the hope of saving their natural environment. At its center is a centuries-old tree. In addition, the community knows how to honor an old tradition. The eel festival and the tradition from which it originates provides an insight into what still seems to be commonplace for English people, especially in smaller places. Tradition and (popular) entertainment in one.

Wonderful television series that makes light of a heavy theme in a completely British way.

The Change is a typical British dramedy. The acting talent is top notch. The series is shaped by over-the-top characters who remain human and somewhat ordinary. Despite their strange behavior, there always appears to be something behind the characters that keeps them close to everyday reality. The story is told in six short episodes of less than half an hour. It ends with a huge cliffhanger for a second season. I wonder if that will happen.