Coming Up: Big Girl

‘Big Girl’ isn’t EV Crowe’s first foray into teenage-themed drama. The playwright – trying her hand at TV for the first time as part of C4’s initiative to showcase emerging talent – portrayed bullying boarding school girls in ‘Kin’ and tackled society’s distrust of young people in ‘Liar, Liar’.

So no one was expecting happy families and innocent youth here – and, sure enough, you get two troubled teenage girls, one in a bid to lose her virginity on the eve of her mum’s wedding; the other facing a return to Sierra Leone for a ‘mystery’ procedure. Their bond – apparently deep and divine – isn’t entirely convincing on camera, and their conversation (intended to be loaded) seems more suited to an early-afternoon soap than a late-night hard-hitting drama.

The narrative arc, too, feels a little flabby for such a short piece of TV. Still, for all its flaws, it has a rough-around-the-edges charm (filmed at night and with plenty of gritty close ups) which hints at a promising career for new director Leanne Welham, and also demonstrates Crowe’s natural understanding for teenage angst.