''This Way Up'' is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. It is set in London, and is written by and stars

Aisling Bea Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan (born 16 March 1984), known professionally as Aisling Bea ( ), is an Irish comedian, actor and writer. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series '' This Way Up'' on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she ...

Sharon Horgan Sharon Lorencia Horgan (born 13 July 1970) is an Irish actress, writer, director, comedian and producer who co-wrote and starred in the comedy series '' Pulling'' (2006–2009) and ''Catastrophe'' (2015–2019). She also created the HBO comedy ...

who also stars in the series is the executive-producer. The first series was shown in 2019, and the second in 2021. The series is distributed in the United States on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

Premise

In ''This Way Up'' Bea plays a young, single Irish woman, Áine (), who lives in London and is recovering from a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

. She works as a teacher of English as a second language, and in series 2 she has a relationship with the father of a child she is tutoring. Horgan plays Áine's protective elder sister, Shona, who lives with her male partner but is also sexually attracted to a female colleague.

Cast

Main

as Áine *

as Shona, Áine's sister * Dorian Grover as Étienne, Áine's 14-year-old French pupil *

Tobias Menzies Tobias Simpson Menzies (born 7 March 1974) is an English stage, television and film actor. He is known for playing Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in the third and fourth seasons of Netflix's series ''The Crown'', for which he won the Primetime ...

as Richard, Étienne's father *

Aasif Mandvi Aasif Hakim Mandviwala (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Aasif Mandvi (, ), is a British-American actor, comedian and author. He was a correspondent on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the ...

as Vish, Shona's partner *

Indira Varma Indira Anne Varma (born 27 September 1973) is a British actress and narrator. Her film debut and first major role was in '' Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love''. She has gone on to appear in the television series ''The Canterbury Tales'', ''Rome'', ''L ...

as Charlotte, Shona's colleague *

Kadiff Kirwan Kadiff Kirwan (born 3 February 1989) is a British-Montserratian actor. He is known for his roles in several British television series, particularly ''Timewasters'', ''Chewing Gum'', ''Fleabag'', and '' The Stranger''. Early life and education Bo ...

as Bradley, Áine's flatmate

Recurring

* Chris Geere as Freddie, Áine's ex-boyfriend *

Ricky Grover Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

as Tom, Áine's friend from rehab * Ekow Quartey as James, Áine's boss *

Pik-Sen Lim Pik-Sen Lim (, born 15 September 1944) is a Malaysian-British actress. According to the British Film Institute, Lim was "the most familiar Chinese actor on British television screens in the 1970s and 80s." Her notable roles include Chin Lee i ...

as Chien, one of Áine's students

Guest

Sorcha Cusack Sorcha Cusack (; born 9 April 1949) is an Irish television and stage actress. Her numerous television credits include playing the title role in ''Jane Eyre'' (1973), '' Casualty'' (1994–1997), ''Coronation Street'' (2008) and ''Father Brown'' ...

as Eileen, Áine and Shona's mother * Lou Sanders as Fran, a psychic Áine visits *

Jeff Mirza Jeffrey Mirza (born 3 February 1964) is an English stand-up comedian and actor of British-Pakistani descent. Early life Mirza was born and brought up in East End of London, England to Pakistani parents. His family are from the Punjab region ...

as Hari, Vish's father *

Soni Razdan Soni Razdan (born 25 October 1956) is a British actress and film director who works in Hindi films. She is married to film director Mahesh Bhatt and is the mother of Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt. Early life Razdan was born in Small Heath Birmi ...

as Kavita, Vish's mother * Tom Bell as David, Áine and Shona's Cousin

Episodes

Series 1 (2019)

Series 2 (2021)

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, series 1 has an approval rating of 90% based on reviews from 20 critics. The site's consensus describes the show as "Devastating, hilarious, and surprisingly light, ''This Way Up'' captures the complexities of mental health with an empathetic – if at times wandering – eye." ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...

'' compared it positively with ''

Fleabag ''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 Fringe Festival. It was originally produced by Two Brothers Pictures for d ...

''. It also gained comparisons with '' Back to Life'' and ''

Catastrophe Catastrophe or catastrophic comes from the Greek κατά (''kata'') = down; στροφή (''strophē'') = turning ( el, καταστροφή). It may refer to: A general or specific event * Disaster, a devastating event * The Asia Minor Catastro ...

''. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' called ''This Way Up'' "one of the best new shows of the year", awarding it five stars. In ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', Daniel Fienberg was less positive, but called it a "solid and familiar blend of comic and melancholic". ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' praised the show, calling it "small in scope, infinitely charming, and intermittently devastating". At the 2020 BAFTA Television Craft Awards, Bea won the Breakthrough Talent Award and in 2022 was nominated for Best Female Comedy Performance at the

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

Future

In May 2020, while appearing on

Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the lead ...

's podcast, Bea confirmed that there would be a second series of the show. On 20 November 2020 the series was officially renewed for a second series. The second series premiered in the US on Hulu on 9 July 2021 and in the UK on Channel 4 on 14 July 2021.

References

External links

''This Way Up''
on Channel 4 *
This Way Up
' a
IMDb
{{Authority control 2019 British television series debuts 2010s British black comedy television series 2010s British comedy-drama television series 2010s British LGBT-related comedy television series 2020s British black comedy television series 2020s British comedy-drama television series 2020s British LGBT-related comedy television series Bisexuality-related television series Channel 4 comedy dramas Irish diaspora Television about mental health Television series about educators Television series about sisters Television shows set in London