| True Love | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Dominic Savage |
| Directed by | Dominic Savage |
| Starring | David Tennant Billie Piper Lacey Turner David Morrissey Jane Horrocks Ashley Walters |
| Opening theme | "What the World Needs Now Is Love" by Dionne Warwick |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Juliette Howell Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Lucy Richer (for BBC) |
| Producer | Guy Heeley |
| Production locations | Margate, Kent, England |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Working Title Television BBC |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 17 June – 20 June 2012 |
True Love is a five-episode 2012 semi-improvised BBC television drama, which began on BBC One on 17 June 2012.
Each episode is a self-contained story (though there is some cross-over between all the episodes), devised through improvisation (a first for BBC One drama), exploring an issue related to love and relationships.[1] Was related to whom True Love had its first public screening at the Turner Contemporary in Margate on 29 March 2012. The series premiered on 17 June 2012 on BBC One, the remaining four episodes being stripped across the next three nights, with the final two airing as a double-bill on 20 June.[2] True Love was originally titled Love Life but was re-titled to avoid confusion with an ITV series with the same title.[3]
While each episode is self-contained, the series is set in the English seaside town of Margate, Kent. There is some overlap between episodes.
True Love was filmed entirely in Margate and surrounding areas between early September and mid-October 2011.[4] Billie Piper's episode was partially shot at The Charles Dickens School in Broadstairs, where some of the current students were invited to be extras, filming scenes alongside Piper. Other prominent locations include Botany Bay, Turner Contemporary, Westwood Cross shopping centre, and Margate railway station.[5]
Episode-viewing figures are from Broadcast Now and Digital Spy.
| Episode no. | Airdate | Episode title | Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
1 |
17 June 2012 |
Nick |
3.11[6]
|
2 |
18 June 2012 |
Paul |
2.64[7]
|
3 |
19 June 2012 |
Holly |
2.8[8]
|
4 |
20 June 2012 |
Sandra |
1.77[9]
|
5 |
20 June 2012 |
Adrian |
1.49
|
The first episode was received negatively by most critics. Reviewing the episode for The Daily Telegraph, Isabel Mohan criticised the plot and Margate backdrop, both of which she found uninspiring,[10] while Sam Wollaston of The Guardian compared the storyline, overlaid with sentimental music, unfavourably to an edition of the Our Tune radio feature.[11] The Independent's Terence Blacker was also unenthusiastic: "It messed up the story, revealing the outcome of a will-they-won't-they tale of infidelity before a single word of dialogue had been spoken."[12]
