If NSFW is “not safe for work”, then Adult Material is probably NSF-WFH. A dark drama, with dashes of comedy that unpicks the realities of the adult entertainment industry, this Channel 4 series has been widely praised by critics and is worth a watch… as long as HR are not tracking your WFH laptop.
Created and written by Lucy Kirkwood, Adult Material sees Hayley Squires starring as a porn star making her way in the world. The Independent’s Ed Cumming says that “It’s a career-making performance from Squires” who shot to fame as the single mother, Katie, in Ken Loach’s film I, Daniel Blake. “Her Jolene can be pitiable, pigheaded, brash and sensitive, often within a scene.” In The Times Carol Midgley thinks the series has “a clever, whip-cracking script by Lucy Kirkwood,” and notes that “Towards the end, however — and this was important to avoid a Carry On vibe — things got darker.” They certainly do. Lucy Mangan writing in the Guardian says that Adult Material “lays down a confident track through a dramatic subject that is thick with well-worn tropes and established points of view.” And talking about the complexities of the story, she says “it holds all these light and dark elements in perfect balance.”
Probably one for after WFH, when the kids have gone to bed.
First shown October 2020. You can watch the trailer by pressing play on the show image, or by clicking here:
