One Day - series adaptation on Netflix, starts Feb 8th

[Netaporter]

Anyone fancy a watch thread? Loved the book by David Nicholls, loved the film, but it’s never really gained a strong following for some reason? The series stars Ambika Mod (This is going to hurt) as Emma and Leo Woodall (The white Lotus) as Dexter.

Binge watched the whole thing yesterday..feel like my thoughts are invaded by the whole thing.. found it very compelling.
Loved the nostalgia, although I thought that they were quite tame in the outfits /make up etc and yes the interiors were too nice..where was the 80s chintz?!
Dex reminded me so much of Damon from blue and thought he looked very 90s.
Hadn't read the book so no previous conceived ideas of casting but I assumed that the book had actually written an Asian female lead and that was sort of the point - that it was an unlikely match. So I'm disappointed in a way that Emma in the book is white.
Overall, loved it, and lots of people have said it was slow. I loved that aspect too. Added to retro-ness!
Seeing the introduction of phones played out on screen made me sad somehow - a longing for pre phone days.

Yes I agree @Alittlenonsensenowandthen Emma’s ethnicity just makes sense in terms of the story- an unlikely pairing who fall deeply in love. And I’ve read the book- where she’s definitely described as White British

@Alittlenonsensenowandthen
I agree - my thoughts have been on this series. The wider context, the last episode - the thoughts of life moving so quickly. A series hasn't affected me this much for a long time.

I haven't read the book or seen the film, so I had no pre-conceptions watching it, and I really liked it.

It's the best thing I have watched on Netflix in a long time (apart from Boy Swallows World). The cast were all great. Special mention for Tim McInnerny as Stephen, he is an underrated actor but he delivered his role with nuance. His scenes with Dex in episode 13 were the ones that brought me to tears.

I went to uni in Edinburgh in the 90s and lived in London after. This series encapsulates the mood of the place and times well.

Emma was so different from Dex in the book because she was from a working class background. It worked and was totally believable. The class differences between Emma and Dex do make the pairing unlikely.

I’m loving it. I’ve read the book which I loved but forgotten most of the plot and loving the TV series. Such wonderful nostalgia me and DH were at uni 1988-93 and the soundtrack is ace
even if Gary murdered the Whole of the Moon which was our song in the student Union discos

And I like the casting. Dexter is absolutely perfect and Emma is really interesting and plays it well. I can immediately tell she’s from Leeds

That’s just how I feel @snazzychair .

Hmm would people comment on it not feeling right if it was a beautiful woman with a geeky looking man?
Or two white people?

Jack and Alex on channel 4 is really good of anyone wants something to watch after finishing One Day.

For me it’s the spark and crackle that’s missing- something in the eyes, the looks they give each other, the flirting - the electricity isn’t conveyed. It doesn’t make my heart leap, their connection. I don’t believe it. It’s down to the nuances of the script and the acting IMO. The chemistry is missing.

I am watching episode 10. N-trance just sent me straight back to Borderline in Charing Cross!

Yes I agree with this. The series wasn't so lazy as to take a conventionally good looking a-lister and rough her up a bit. Ambika Mod is a much better choice because she is actually gorgeous but you have to look carefully to see it. Unless you're Dexter who sees it immediately.

I'm still a bit conflicted about the fact that the woman has to die for true love to be enduring. Without wishing to sound as misandristic as I am becoming in my old age, I think it would have been more interesting if Dexter had been killed off instead.

@Superlambaanana eek! Ive read the book already, but I think that may be a spoiler! YOu may have to get it deleted!

I don't think the thread said no spoilers and the plot has been mentioned in previous posts but happy for @mnhq to decide.

Yeah maybe ask. I'm terrible for deliberately reading spoilers, so I don't mind as I have the patience of a mayfly. Not sure what the spoiler rules are!

* edited to add,Jack and ALICE on channel 4

I finished watching it today. I agree with many previous posters - it was compulsive viewing and affecting. I totally sobbed when Dex was sitting on the floor in the room of his new flat with his bottle of whatever and looked so defeated. The Lilac Wine song didn’t help either !! Brilliant acting by both leads. It does make you think that you never ever know what the next minute will bring in life. Well done Netflix for commissioning this.

Mixed feeling about it this. It didn’t grab me at first, but I carried on watching, mainly because I was ill for a couple of days and it was easy watching. I don’t think I’d have bothered otherwise. I did cry lots at the end, so obviously felt something.
However, I thought there was zero chemistry between the main characters. They had absolutely nothing in common and that came across in bucketloads to me. I don’t think either of the leads suited their roles.

fkn hell. I knew how it ended and I'm still sobbing. I thought Dexter guy was amazing 😭💔😭💔

I thought it was brilliant and so was the casting. I haven’t read the book or seen the film but i loved the chemistry between these two, i can’t imagine anyone else in the roles
loved the music too.

I wonder if the divide here is between:

• People who've read the book and seen the film - mostly not liking the series casting

• People who were new to the story - mostly loving the series casting.

• People who felt no chemistry missing the point that it wasn't meant to be movie style steamy.

I was new to the story and loved the series actors, but I had no mental image to compare them to. Honestly they were mesmerising in my opinion.

The fact that it's an unlikely pairing is the point! Dexter is supposed to be more sexually confident while Emma is more intellectually confident, so the 'chemistry' is meant to be a bit awkward and non-Hollywoodesque. It's more about curious magnetism and that's why it's more enduring than run of the mill limerance.

Yes could be. I read the book many years ago. It wasn't a book that I loved and thought was amazing, and really the ending was all I could remember, but I love the series. The casting made sense to me. I don't understand why they woukd be friends, but I predume the characters are written that way. I sgree about the chemidtry. If there was a sizzling chemistry they would have just got together in the first place. It was a friendship and attraction that turned to love. Iwatched a bit of the film on film 4 and have recorded it to watch later, but it's not as good imo. Emma is more miscast in the film than the book, and the acting is not as good. I also think maybe the problem is that it's a bit dated.

Well I’ve read the book, seen the film, and loved the casting and chemistry in this TV series

It’s very marmite isn’t it? People either loved the pairing or really didn’t like it/ believe in it. Very interesting!