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Boy Meets Girl

Martin Freeman and Rachael Stirling
  • Posted at 6:05pm
  • 08 May 2009
  • by AlisonGraham-RT
  • 2 comments

After wanting to hose myself down with disinfectant after watching ITV1's toxic, acrid, thoroughly icky, supposedly erotic thriller Compulsion last week, I needed some balm for my angry soul.

So it's a good job that Boy Meets Girl (Fridays ITV1) has come along. I suppose it could be described as a romantic comedy, though that feels like an unfairly narrow definition. Perhaps it's the title that misleads and makes it sound like a photo-romance in Jackie magazine. There are romantic elements, but they are skewed, off-kilter and not at all sappy; this isn't Richard Curtis.

What I like about it is its underlying decency. And, no, I haven't started wearing a bonnet and having the vapours at the sight of uncovered piano legs before taking refuge on my fainting couch. But if you watch it - and I recommend that you do - you'll realise that all of the characters are good-hearted in a way that isn't remotely sickly.

They care about the happiness and wellbeing of others, which you must agree is a rarity in television dramas, where most of the characters are either serial killers carving up female victims or they're rapists, selfish women or idiot men. It's not funny - period Though Boy Meets Girl's premise is high-concept - a young man and woman, two strangers, swap bodies after a freak accident at an electricity substation - this is really just a springboard for a rather sweet human drama.

I'm not going to make any extraordinary claims for it - it's not Sense and Sensibility - but I'm impressed by its lack of misanthropy. Rachael Stirling and Martin Freeman are excellent in the two lead roles (though there isn't enough of Freeman, who in the little we do see of him gives a beautifully understated performance packed with wry little delicately girlish touches).

The focus is largely on Stirling's character, Veronica, who is really Danny. (Keep up, will you?) Danny is Veronica's interior voice: we hear his thoughts and see his mannerisms reflected in this once poised and dignified fashion journalist - the unreconstructed Manchester accent, the loping walk and so on.

What's appealing is that it's nicely offbeat while being essentially goodhearted. Everyone in Danny and Veronica's lives cares about them and is concerned for their welfare, though of course none of them knows what happened in the accident. Only Danny, Veronica and the audience are in on that particularly momentous event.

And there are the elements of romance that take an unexpected turn in this week's episode, though my lips must remain sealed for fear of spoiling the surprise.

No-one really bothers about romance in TV dramas any more, or they confuse it with sex (hello Mistresses! Yes, I'm looking at you). But I like the charm of a love story. And, in difficult times for all of us, what's wrong with a TV drama having a heart?

Alison Graham is TV editor of Radio Times

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Comments

  • Posted on 16 May 2009
  • at 12:45am
  • by Rachel

I agree completely with the comment about Martin Freemans peformance, it's so subtle that it seems totally pushed back compared to Rachel Stirling's however the facial expressions and body language he does is superb. I really am enjoying this series and I think it's a nice change for ITV to do a drama/comedy without adding the nice dollop of cheese on top.

  • Posted on 09 May 2009
  • at 10:45am
  • by Cheryl

I agree wholeheartedly. As an anti-fan of most ITV drama, I find myself setting my VCR for this and watching it immediately the broadcast finishes. It is so sad to watch Veronica/Danny's descent into disrepair and despair and I watched through my fingers as (s)he was made love to by her boyfriend and (!) started to enjoy it. As an aside though: Why did he not tell her about Danny's visit (I know, I know - that would wrap things up too neatly.....)?

Similarly, Danny/Veronica's heartbreak and loneliness is heartbreaking. Throughout the programme, I am also wondering 1) How I would handle such an event - and 2) Would I believe someone of either gender if the y told me it had happened to them? I guess I would now.

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