Exclusive – Breeders creators reveal why season 2 features a major time jump – and if season 3 will do the same
Simon Blackwell and Chris Addison say exploring different stages of parenting was always part of the plan.
The first season of comedy-drama Breeders explored the highs and the extreme lows of parenting very young children, from unexpected hospital visits to temper tantrums (that's the parents as well as the kids) – but for the second season, series creators Simon Blackwell and Chris Addison were keen to put a new spin on things.
The new episodes – filmed under strict guidelines in late 2020 following COVID-19 related delays, an experience that Addison describes as both "terrifying, and wildly boring" – pick up several years after the first season, with Paul (Martin Freeman) and Ally (Daisy Haggard) now more seasoned but no more confident as parents and their two children Ava (now played by Eve Prenelle) and Luke (now Alex Eastwood) aged 10 and 13 respectively.
"Pretty early on, we thought it would be a good idea to jump forward quite a substantial amount if we got to season two, partly because it's the surprise of it for the viewers, and also because it would keep us on our toes and stop us getting into a rut and possibly repeating ourselves," series co-creator and co-writer Blackwell tells RadioTimes.com.
"It was an exciting thing for us, because we're fundamentally writing a different second season, because the dynamics are so different between the parents and the kids."
The recasting of Luke and Ava - played by George Wakeman and Jayda Eyles in the first season - also allowed those two characters to be involved in "more complicated, emotional" storylines, co-creator Addison explains. "Kids are becoming constantly more complex – as they get older, they're taking on more and more characteristics and ideas and abilities, and so it becomes more complicated for you as a parent."
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Having gone through "a long process" to find the new Ava and Luke, there are no immediate plans for another time jump – a potential third season of Breeders would pick up more or less where season two ends. "I think we would owe it to the viewers to resolve what plays out at the end of season two," says Blackwell. "So I think certainly, for some of the season, we would have Luke and Ava at the age they are in season two, just because we leave it on a cliffhanger that we need to resolve.
"I think also because we realised as we went through this season how great Eve and Alex are as Ava and Luke, and it would be lunacy not to use actors that good again – we'd be mental not to use them, because they're so good."
"Luke has some big emotional stuff in this season," Addison adds. "I want to see what we can get out of Eve. I feel like we can get something really special out of her and I feel Ava hasn't challenged her quite yet. I really look forward to seeing what she does with that."
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The premise of Breeders – a sometimes funny, sometimes painful, but always unflinchingly honest look at parenting – was partly inspired by its star Martin Freeman's own experiences and anxieties as a parent. He's credited as co-creator on the series along with Blackwell and Addison and remains heavily involved in the creative process, advising on scripts from treatment stage onwards.
"He's a busy man at the moment – he's shooting for 14 weeks in Liverpool [filming BBC One drama The Responder], so we can't bother him with every little thing," Addison says. "But he sees all drafts and so on."
Veering from big laughs to heartbreak on Breeders is, adds Blackwell, a "tricky balancing act", with Freeman's "comic instincts" helping to strike the right chord. "Martin's red-hot on seeing where, tonally, it's just edged too far – you know, three degrees that way, or three degrees the other way. It's kind of constant vigilance to not get to 'dramarama' and also, conversely, to not just be a gag fest."
The first season of Breeders saw Freeman's character turn to therapy to deal with his anger issues and while Blackwell acknowledges that, as a character, the frequently frustrated Paul is "not without his problems", he suggests that actually the show is about "the inevitable failure" that all parents face.
"There's no way to do it perfectly – it's not possible, other than theoretically, so it's nice to see someone else fail in a way you might have failed yourself," he says of the show's appeal.
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"The biggest response that we get from people is, 'Thank God you said that!' because now they feel vindicated, or at least not alone," agrees Addison. "It at least makes them feel like they're not a monster, and that this is something that we all maybe struggle with to some extent. It's a universal thing that the show is built on, but you have to turn the dials up on it slightly to make it dramatic."
The new series of Breeders is available on Sky One and streaming service NOW on Thursday 27th May. All episodes available on demand. Find more to watch with our TV Guide.
