''Sweetpea'' is a British

dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series created by Kirstie Swain for

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group, Sky Group Limited that launched in 2011 and broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel airs original British-produced dramas like ''Fortitude (TV series), F ...

. An adaptation of the 2017 novel of the same name by CJ Skuse, it stars Ella Purnell in the lead role. The series premiered on 10 October 2024 on Sky Atlantic. In December 2024, it was renewed for a second series.

Premise

After enduring bullying during her school years, Rhiannon Lewis is an unassuming young woman who lives with her father and dog in the fictional English town of Carnsham, where she works a mundane job as an administrative assistant at a local newspaper. However, following her father's death, her life is upended by a series of unfortunate events, including the return of her former bully, leading Rhiannon to develop a penchant for murder.

Cast and characters

Main

* Ella Purnell as Rhiannon Lewis, an administrative assistant working at the ''Carnsham Gazette'', often called "Sweetpea" by her boss * Nicôle Lecky as Julia Blenkingsopp, a classmate from Rhiannon's school years, who is now a local estate agent * Jon Pointing as Craig, an employee at Rhiannon's father's construction company who ghosted her after their one-night stand *

Calam Lynch Calam Finbar Lynch (born 7 November 1994) is a British actor. His films include the Disney adaptation of '' Black Beauty'' (2020) and Terence Davies' ''Benediction'' (2021). On television, he appeared in the BBC One drama '' Mrs Wilson'' (2018) ...

as AJ Pierce, the new junior reporter at the ''Carnsham Gazette'' * Jeremy Swift as Norman, the editor of the ''Carnsham Gazette'' and Rhiannon's boss *

Dustin Demri-Burns Dustin Demri-Burns (born 11 July 1978) is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his work in '' Cardinal Burns'' (2012–2014) and '' Slow Horses'' (2022). He appeared in films as the roles of Danny Sinclair in '' Alan Partr ...

as Jeff Barker, a senior reporter at the ''Carnsham Gazette'' * Leah Harvey as Marina Farrar, a junior detective working for the local police force * Camille Coduri as Carol on Tuesdays, the hostess at the local pub

Recurring

* Dino Kelly as Marcus, Julia's fiancé * Nitin Ganatra as Rory, a detective working with Marina * Ingrid Oliver as Diana St John, a

Detective Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

at the local police force

Guest

David Bark-Jones David Bark-Jones is an English actor. He has appeared in numerous film, theatre and TV productions. In 2010 he won Broadwayworld.com's Best Actor in a West End Play, for his portrayal of Richard Hannay in '' The 39 Steps''. In 2024, he appeared ...

as Tommy, Rhiannon and Seren's father, and owner of the construction firm Tommy's Transformations * Luke McGibney as Mike Roberts, an obnoxious man who crosses paths with Rhiannon * Alexandra Dowling as Seren, Rhiannon's older sister who lives in France * James Craze as Ryan Lloyd, a man who disrespects Rhiannon

Episodes

Production

Skuse's 2017 novel was optioned in 2017 by See-Saw Films. In 2019,

came onboard the project and Patrick Walters, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman were set as executive producer for See-Saw Films, with Liz Lewin as an executive producer for

Sky Studios Sky Studios is a production company founded by Sky in June 2019 with assets from the now defunct Sky Vision. It develops, produces and funds original drama, comedy and documentary, and has investments in a number of production businesses in ...

. Kirstie Swain has adapted the book. In 2020, it was revealed to be a six-part series. On 3 December 2024, ''Sweetpea'' was renewed for a second series.

Casting

In November 2023, Ella Purnell was cast in the lead role and serves as an executive producer. Also cast were Nicôle Lecky, Jon Pointing,

, Leah Harvey, Jeremy Swift,

, Luke McGibney and Ingrid Oliver.

Filming

Filming took place in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

in November and December 2023, with filming locations including Southend Observation Tower on Pier Hill, Western Esplanade's Cliff Lift and theme park Adventure Island. Filming also took place near the River Colne in Oxhey Park,

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Title sequence

The title sequence was created by the London-based Peter Anderson Studio. It was designed to visually explore the lead character's psychological state, utilising brutalist painting aesthetics and painterly compositions. The sequence features neon lights on rain-soaked streets and transforms everyday objects into symbols of violence, reflecting the duality of her existence. A bespoke typeface, with a hand-drawn aesthetic, contributes to the gritty tone whilst the sharp extensions in the typeface used in the title card were added to enhance the ominous atmosphere.

Broadcast

The series premiered on 10 October 2024 on

and Now in the United Kingdom. Ahead of the series premiere, a full trailer was revealed in September 2024.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, ''Sweetpea'' holds an approval rating of 85% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Ella Purnell is a diabolical delight in ''Sweetpea'', a revenge fantasy that holds a lot of darkness beneath its playful exterior."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned a score of 69 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Lucy Mangan Lucy Mangan (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian'' and an opinion writer for '' i'' news. Early life and education Mangan was born in 1974 and grew up in Catford, ...

, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', was less impressed, comparing the series unfavourably to the original book.

Soundtrack

The series score was written by Isobel Waller-Bridge and the theme song ("Do You See Me Now") by Isobel and British artist

Chinchilla Chinchilla refers to either of two species ('' Chinchilla chinchilla'' and '' Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America. They live in colonies called "her ...

, who also provided the vocals. In addition, the series features a diverse soundtrack of popular music, including tracks from

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes (song), Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her broth ...

, Icona Pop/

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...

Labi Siffre Claudius Afolabi "Labi" Siffre ( , born 25 June 1945) is a British singer, songwriter and poet. Siffre released six albums from 1970 to 1975 and four from 1988 to 1998. His compositions include " It Must Be Love", which reached number 14 on the ...

and the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

References

External links

* * {{Sky Atlantic Starz original programming 2020s British black comedy television series 2020s British comedy-drama television series 2020s British workplace comedy television series 2020s British workplace drama television series 2024 British television series debuts British English-language television shows British thriller television series Sky Atlantic original programming Sky UK comedy-dramas Television series about fictional serial killers Television series about revenge Television series about school bullying Television shows based on British novels Television shows filmed in England Television shows set in England Works about newspaper publishing