My Mad Fat Diary

Series one, episode two
The key to this inventive, likeable comedy drama is the finely wrought balance between humour and darkness. For every Oasis, there’s a Radiohead and tonight, Rae’s neuroses, anxieties and insecurities come pouring out. For a self-proclaimed best mate, Chloe’s not the most tactful girl in the world. And if her casual words about Rae’s size open the floodgates, a pub chat about sexual experience pulls them off their hinges. Rae needs to get laid, but might she have misunderstood the signals she’s getting from one of her closest pals? ‘My Mad Fat Diary’ is a breath of fresh air, and exactly the kind of thing E4 should be doing. One small caveat however: the Britpop-era anthems that pepper the action feel like a character in themselves. Just occasionally, they feel like a slightly overbearing one.