Marriage writer responds to the divided reaction to Sean Bean and Nicola Walker drama

This article contains mention of pregnancy loss and miscarriage that some readers may find distressing.

Stefan Golaszewski, the writer behind Him & Her, Mum and new series Babies, was also behind the four-part 2022 drama Marriage, which starred Sean Bean and Nicola Walker.

The series, a naturalistic look at the everyday lives of a long-married couple, Ian and Emma, received predominantly rave reviews, but proved hugely divisive with viewers once it was aired on BBC One and iPlayer.

Now, speaking with us exclusively for our video interview series The Radio Times Writers' Room, in which we get to know what makes screenwriters tick, Golaszewski revealed his reaction to this response, and how he reacts to criticism of his works more generally.

"I read everything, because you might as well," he said. "And, of course, it's never nice. You can't pretend that it's nice to have people saying mean things about your work. But, as my wife said to me about Marriage, she said, 'If you are going to write a show that goes against all the norms of drama, and does it kind of wilfully and deliberately'...

"And she said to me, 'You knew what you were doing, and you did it on purpose. You can't expect everyone to love it.' I was just like, 'Yeah, it's true.' How an audience reacts is completely out of my control. So, it is what it is."

Golaszewski's new series, Babies, stars Paapa Essiedu and Siobhán Cullen, and follows a couple in their thirties, Stephen and Lisa, who experience multiple pregnancy losses and miscarriages as they try to have a baby.

Of starring in the series, and it's depiction of pregnancy loss, Essiedu previously told Radio Times: "It's obviously an experience that many people go through and I would argue that there hasn't been huge amounts of space made for that to be spoken about, both just in our lives, but also in media, on the news, in music, in art, on television.

"But I think whilst this show is partly about that, and that is something that Stefan researched and drew upon experience to tell in the most authentic way possible, it's also about so many other things – it’s about relationships, it's about friendships, it’s about family and it's about love."

The series also stars Jack Bannon as Stephen's best friend Dave and Charlotte Riley as Dave's new girlfriend Amanda. Their new relationship, coupled with Stephen and Lisa's experiences, lead to a testing of Dave and Stephen's friendship like never before.

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Marriage and Babies are available to watch in full on iPlayer now. Stefan Golaszewski's full interview for The Radio Times Writers' Room is be available to watch on Radio Times and YouTube.

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