64 LISTENER AUGUST 3 2019
That’sEntertainm
H
umour is tragedy
plus time, so the
saying goes, and in
the case of UK series
Back to Life (TVNZ
OnDemand, from Tuesday),
the exact length of time is 18
years.
That’s how long Miri (Daisy
Haggard) has been in prison,
during which smartphones
have become ubiquitous,
David Bowie, Prince and
George Michael have died and
Miri’s boyfriend has married
and become a father.
It’s a story about begin-
ning again when the odds are
stacked against you. Miri goes
back to living with her parents
in the small seaside town of
Hythe in Kent. She might be
ready to move on, but some in
the town are not. Her parents’
fence is graffitied and excre-
ment is sent through the mail.
Miri is battered by a brick
thrown through a window and
gets back up, bloodied.
All the while, the small,
absurd details of life peep
through, thanks to the scripts
by Haggard and Laura Solon.
Of the posters in Miri’s room,
only Jamie Oliver is still alive.
“Thank God, he’s still with
us,” she remarks. Miri’s father,
Oscar (Richard Durden), is
obsessed with the environ-
ment; her mother, Caroline
(Geraldine James), hides the
knives.
Fans of Episodes will remem-
ber Haggard as the almost
incomprehensible head of
comedy, Myra, she of the
strange facial expressions.
Back to Life came about
because of a fascination with,
she told comedy.co.uk, “how
harshly we judge women
who have done a bad thingA long time inside
An ex-con fights against the odds to resume
a normal life. by entertainment editor FIONA RAE
TV • TV REVIEW • RADIO • TV & RADIO LISTINGS
Back to Life, TVNZ
OnDemand.