ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART (ONE DAY)

© Netflix

As the hunt for another 'Normal People' continues, it comes as no surprise that TV executives have turned to David Nicholls' 'One Day' for that hit.

Nicholls' love story was a publishing sensation in 2009, selling six million copies worldwide and being translated into 40 languages.

The novel earned rave reviews, with Nick Hornby championing it on his blog.

It scooped the Galaxy Book of the Year award, with Hollywood inevitably commissioning a movie version.

© Netflix

Danish director Lone Scherfig was asked in 2011 to bring Nicholl's 20 year tale to the big screen with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess as its leads.

But while the film performed decently at the box office, Scherfig's version underwhelmed despite having the novelist write the screenplay.

Now Netflix has decided to give the story another go with a 14 episode miniseries.

Mostly adapted by Nicole Taylor, episodes are also penned by Bijan Sheibani, Anna Jordan, Vinay Patel and by Nicholls himself.

© Netflix

And why not?

Because 14 episodes, 19-38 minutes in duration, give the writing team plenty of scope to do Nicholls' book real justice in a way that a 108 minute movie couldn't.

Ambika Mod, who some audiences will recall from her devastating turn as an overworked junior doctor in the NHS drama 'This Is Going To Hurt,' plays Emma.

Leo Woodall, who caught a lot of audience attention as an Essex boy in Season Two of 'The White Lotus,' is Dex.

© Netflix

The casting of both actors feels much more in keeping with the spirit of Nicholls' book than the movie.

And both of them rise to the occasion.

For those unfamiliar with Nicholls' novel, 'One Day' takes the reader and viewer in and out of the lives of two people, Emma and Dexter who meet on the night of their graduation by focussing on the same date over 20 years.

That date is July 15, St Swithun's Day - chosen by Nicholls after he fell in love with a Billy Bragg song.

© Netflix

At the start of the story, Dexter and Emma are at a raucous graduation celebration in Edinburgh.

Having managed to avoid each other during their time at the uni, they somehow notice each other and immediately click.

Dexter accompanies Emma back to the house she shares with a fellow student, Amber Grappy's Tilly.

However instead of having sex, they spend the time talking until dawn.

© Netflix

We learn that Emma is a rather bookish English literature graduate from Leeds from a working class background, socialist leanings, a drill sense of humour and dreams of being a writer who can improve the world.

Dexter is a handsome Southern English posh boy who can afford to travel immediately after graduations and lives a charmed existence.

He is amused by her deadpan sense of humour.

She sees more to him than just his looks.

© Netflix

After climbing the hill to Arthur's Seat overlooking the Scottish capital, the duo exchange contact details and vow to keep in touch.

But whereas some people would let things drift away, amazingly they keep in contact.

Parallel narratives unfold in the show about the lives that Emma and Dexter are leading.

Occasionally, their lives intersect but underlying each interaction is a deep seated romantic desire that often tests their friendship.

© Netflix

Over the course of the miniseries, Emma struggles to establish a career - initially touring schools in the north of England with a travelling theatre company, then finding work in a grim Mexican restaurant chain in London, training and securing work as a teacher and finally making her mark as a writer of children's fiction.

Dexter initially travels to Rome, living the high life before landing a high profile role in London as the presenter of a yoof TV show.

His luck eventually runs out and his TV career disintegrates while he battles with addiction.

While the prospect that Dexter and Emma might get together hovers throughout the show, their flirtation often goes unfulfilled and other lovers fall in and fall out of the picture.

© Netflix

Dexter is rattled when his mum, Essie Davis' Alison Mayhew battles cancer, placing further strain on an already strained relationship with his straightlaced father, Tim McInnerny's Stephen.

Emma is wooed by Jonny Weldon's aspiring stand-up comedian Ian.

Eleanor Tomlinson's Sylvie catches Dexter's eye but comes with an obnoxious, insanely competitive, wealthy family headed by Toby Stephens and Joely Richardson's Lionel and Helen Cope.

Brendan Quinn's former university chum Callum re-enters Dexter's life and impacts it significantly.

© Netflix

As the show rolls through the years and catches up with its characters each July 15 in Edinburgh, Rome, London, the Greek island of Paros, Hertfordshire and Paris, we wonder if Emma and Dexter will get over their setbacks and wind up together.

Luckily directors Molly Manners, Kate Hewitt, John Hardwick and Luke Snellin steer this ship with steady hands, wnavigating the ups and downs of Dexter and Emma's lives in the TV miniseries much more convincingly than Scherfig's movie.

The format affords them and their writing team more time to properly explore the lives of both characters.

Over 14 episodes, there's more scope to chart the near misses and mistakes in Dexter and Emma's lives, the gradual chipping away of their idealism and the huge impact of love and loss.

© Netflix

Confining the running time of each episode to between 19 and 38 minutes also proves a smart move.

As a consequence, the show moves at a steady pace, never losing its focus or overstaying its welcome.

Ultimately the show hinges on Mod and Woodall's chemistry and they are undoubtedly the miniseries' greatest assets, turning in thoroughly charming performances.

While Hathaway and Sturgess were hopelessly miscast in the movie, the leads in this version fit perfectly into their roles.

© Netflix

Over the course of the 14 episodes, both actors capture the blunting of youthful ambition as Emma and Dexter learn the hard way about life and love and gradually take on more responsibilities as they grow older.

Mod and Woodall understandably dominate proceedings but the show is also buttressed by solid supporting turns from Davis, McInnerny, Tomlinson, Weldon, Gappy and Quinn.

Stephens and Richardson amuse in a 'Meet the Fockers' style scene involving a weirdly aggressive game played by Sylvie's family which really wouldn't have felt that out of place in 'Saltburn'.

Rebekah Murrell also catches the eye tpp as Dexter's co-presenter Suki and Mark Rowley too as Mr Godalming, the headmaster who gushes a little too much about Emma's work on the school play.

© Netflix

Slickly shot by Benoit Delhomme, the directors make great use of the show's locations.

There's also some wisely chosen rock songs deployed from the likes of Orange Juice, Joan Armatrading, The The, The Pixies, The Fall, The Velvet Underground, Nick Drake, Portishead, Blur, Elastica, The Cranberries, The Verve, The Kinks and Cat Power.

Ultimately, it is the performances of Mod and Woodall that stay with you long after completing the miniseries.

Oozing charisma and demonstrating they have sufficient acting chops to carry the weight of audience expectations on their shoulders, they are the best small screen romantic pairing since Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones in 'Normal People'.

© Netflix

Their chemistry certainly puts the rather insipid central performances of 'Conversations With Friends' in the ha'penny place and a lot of that is down to the fact that both actors appear to have an instinctive feel for how to break your heart.

These should be star making roles for Mod and Woodall.

Here's hoping both of them get the chance to fully exploit that potential.

('One Day' was made available for streaming in Netflix on February 8, 2024)