There is a big problem with One Day and it’s hiding in plain sight
It’s the number one show on Netflix and reviewers have raved about it. But for every lover, there’s a secret hater and Rowan Pelling can’t stop thinking about the crucial detail that has ruined the relationship between Dex and Emma for her
Every now and then you’re forced to make a lonely stand against the cultural consensus. In 1986 I told school friends that, no, I didn’t worship Simple Minds and so would not be accompanying them to Wembley Arena.
Nearly 30 years later, I risk becoming a social pariah because I’m the only woman in the playground who feels “meh” about One Day. More to the point, I’m underwhelmed by the drama’s heroine Emma Morley. Or, as I came to think of her: the dour-mat.
I didn’t find Emma objectionable when I lapped up David Nicholl’s excellent novel on a summer holiday in 2010 – but the delight of reading is you can create your own version of a character in your head. My Emma was sparky, witty and seductively intransigent, like Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.
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