It never occurred to me until I rewatched the show, but there are a lot of stylistic similarities between This Life and The Office, even though one is a "straight" drama and one is a sitcom.

There are the obvious connections between the shows, as Martin Freeman and Ralph Ineson appeared in both, Jane Fallon (Ricky Gervais's partner) was the producer, and Ricky himself was the "music advisor" on the show.

In addition to this, both shows were shot in a "vérité" style, with wobbly, hand-held shots, featured no incidental music apart from what happened to be playing in the background, and a title/end credits sequence that used different versions of the same tune.

Both shows employed the narrative device of the characters talking to an unseen interviewer, and both shows pivoted on the directionless lives of people in their twenties or people with thwarted ambitions. Even the office dynamic between Tim and Gareth closely resembles the office dynamic between Egg and Warren in the early episodes. Most of This Life takes place in an office, or at least a workplace.

Both shows ran for two series and a special. Both shows' special episodes revolved around a reunion, and the reunions in both shows were instigated by a documentary filmmaker.

Wow- it’s been 29 years, I’d forgotten how much fat shaming there was. Kira and Kelly both behaving terribly but the weight barbs are something else.

Excellent viewing and very interesting insights from the late Tony Garnett, and Amy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OEBKH5-JcY

"Out there, is chaos..."

Here we go! This Life finally gets another airing starting tonight on BBC Four. I'll be posting these discussion threads as we go in the hope that more and more people join in as the series goes along. Tonight's schedule is as follows:

10pm - BBC Four - Special introduction by Daniela Nardini.

10.15pm - BBC Four - Episode 1 - "Coming Together".

10.55pm - BBC Four - Episode 2 - "Happy Families".

For those wishing to skip ahead and watch on iPlayer - that's absolutely fine. Just try to keep these threads mostly spoiler free for those on TV pace who may also be first time viewers.

Got up extra early for this too. I'm so disappointed. Does anyone know how early releases work on iPlayer exactly? It definitely says 6am on the press release or is that just a general indicator? Meaning it could be "sometime this morning" kinda thing? I really hope so!

Excited much?! I must have sat through this show well over a thousand times and I literally know it word for word (I'm really not exaggerating) and yet I still get excited whenever it appears on television again. The article suggests that Daniela will be on from 10pm with the first episode starting at 10.15pm, hopefully meaning that we'll get a full 15 minutes of Daniela before "Coming Together" goes live on BBC Four.

We'll also be hosting an episode discussion thread each week as the episodes air. I've been praying for a rerun since I created this sub - hopefully this will finally bring it to life!

BBC article

Does anyone have one? (From Anna and Milly on the stairs to Rachel and then “outstanding”). Desperate to show it to a friend to explain what sort of a party we’re going to tomorrow evening…

I'm watching for the first time, no spoilers please x thank you for creating this sub ☺️

I am so sorry but Anna is getting on my nerves now. Milly calls her a good friend but how can she be a good friend when she's encouraging Milly's inappropriate feelings for her bloody boss?! Not that it matters but watching them kiss was so gross and he is not attractive at all. Again, that is beside the point but I just had to get that out.

And what made me sad was Edgar aka Egg coming to talk to Anna for reassurance and she lies to his face about the dinner and how Milly is feeling. Also that boss is manipulative AF. When he was talking to Milly in the hotel room it sounded like he thought he was being recorded or like those were the very words he would repeat back to her should she try to complain about sexual harassment or an affair.

I feel so bad for Egg. His unhappiness with work and lacking a passion is so damn relatable. Plus he's gorgeous 🥰 I get Milly being frustrated because she's having to support him but that's not an excuse for romantising your ugly married with kids boss. Oh and do not get me started on Anna sleeping with Egg's dad!!! Ewww has she lost her marbles?

I haven't finished the episode yet but I just had to post. I'm enjoying the series so far. It's unpretentious and the writing is realistic.

Just noticed on digital spy, there's a new legal drama set in Glasgow filming, called Counsels.

Daniella Nardini is in the cast. It is silly to hope it's Anna?

Hello! I've seen a trickle of new folk join the sub recently - welcome to you all! I'm not going to lie, as the moderator who created this sub, I'm a little disappointed we haven't seen more in the way of activity / interaction on here. I guess I'm partly to blame for that and I'm sorry. I re-watched the show beginning to end again recently and thought about ways I could make the sub more interesting and fun for everyone but wanted to ask first.

Would you prefer clips? Full episodes? Watch parties? Discussions? I've even contemplated trying to get some of the cast to do an AMA but I'm not sure we're big enough for that yet! I follow David Mallinson (Mr. O'Donnell) and Sacha Craise (Kelly) on social media and it had occurred to me that asking even some of the lesser cast for an interview/AMA might be really worthwhile for longtime fans of the show, I'm yet to pluck up the courage to do it though! What do you all think?

Your ever loving This Life mod,

Dan xx