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I Am Helen creator reveals why making new porn addiction drama with Bridgerton favourite was "deeply upsetting" to make

Of his whole anthology series, I Am Helen was the toughest to make, says creator Dominic Savage.

Nicola Coughlan and Joe Cole in I Am Helen, sat on a bed facing each other. He is holding his hand out gesturing at her, as if in an argument.

Me and You Productions/Channel 4

Published: Thursday, 12 November 2026 at 8:00 am

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This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

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In your own words, who is Helen?

Helen is fiercely proud. She’s got a lot that she wants to do with her life. She’s got a lot of love to give. And she wants to make things work. But she’s also someone that doesn’t take any s**t from anyone, least of all her partner. That’s really important. She’s a strong woman, focused on her career, and she wants the man in her life to come along on the journey. But, of course, there’s a problem with him.

The plot centres around her partner Steve’s addiction to pornography. How do you think this addiction can come about?

Men can feel their roles in life are being challenged. They can feel threatened, and if you’re an independent woman in a relationship, that’s quite challenging.

Joe Cole and Nicola Coughlan sat on a sofa, talking. Nicola looks distressed as she leans in and Joe is looking away blankly.

Joe Cole and Nicola Coughlan in I Am Helen. Me and You Productions/Channel 4

Did you research the scale of porn addiction? It’s hard to know how common it is...

I think it can affect everyone, to some extent. What I hope is that men watching it review what they are. But I think a lot of them feel this is the right way, and how it should be. They’re quite defensive. They’re frustrated, too. But Helen will not accept it, and that’s a really good wake up call. I love the way that she fights back at him. But it’s really sad as well, because she loves him. He’s not a horrible person. But it’s time for it to stop.

You’ve worked with some incredible actors over the I Am... series: Samantha Morton, Kate Winslet, Vicky McClure, to name but three. How do you choose who you collaborate with?

I think it happens a bit by fate: I meet the right actor at the right moment in their acting life. When I met with Nicola, we wondered why we hadn’t met before. We talked, and the subject matter came up because it’s in everyone’s consciousness, certainly young women’s.

Nicola is such a strong woman, and an activist, with a sense of what’s right. We immediately felt we had to do this because we thought it would speak to a lot of women who don’t know how to deal with it [porn addiction]. When you’re in it, you don’t necessarily know it. I wrote the outline, and then everything else I wrote, she said “yes” to. In some ways the process was quite straightforward.

Dominic Savage

Series creator Dominic Savage. Dave Benett/WireImage

Why was it a story that Nicola wanted to tell?

I think she knows friends that have experienced it. To a certain extent, I think potentially every woman has experienced something like it. It doesn’t have to be as extreme as [the porn addiction] in this story. But it’s far too common.

Some people have accepted it as part of the deal, but it really shouldn’t be. Then there’s this terrible disconnect that’s happened between men and women. Some women feel like they’ve given up on it [sex] altogether. I remember a woman who was on the dating scene saying to me, “You don’t know if you’re going to go out and meet someone and fall in love, or be murdered”. It’s desperate.

Nicola’s performance is incredible: tender and deeply unsettling. Was it hard to film?

I found making it deeply upsetting. It was probably the toughest one I’ve done. Some of the stuff that we were doing, I didn’t enjoy. I questioned myself at times. But it is important to show this.

I remember thinking about Nicola and seeing this very tender, loving, fragile, but strong person. For this person to be treated in this way was miserable to watch. Nicola has a lot of fans who love her, and I imagine that they’ll feel so much for her and be so upset. But that’s the purpose.

We make this stuff to get people thinking and talking and feeling and expressing and reacting to the work. You’ve got to be as real and as truthful as possible.

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I Am Helen airs Monday 16 November at 9pm and Tuesday 17 November at 9.15pm on Channel 4. Catch up on C4 streaming.

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Authors

Laura Craik

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