The second season of BBC One’s In the Club begins filming in Leeds later this year.
Writer Kay Mellor commented: “It’s going to be a bit of a juggling process as I’d love to bring all the characters back but I also want to introduce some new stories. One thing’s for sure, I can’t wait to start the whole process again.”
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As we wait for Season 2, we thought we’d look ahead to what we would like to see in the pregnancy drama’s six new episodes…
More Hermione Norris
As brilliant as the casting has been with In the Club, there’s no denying that having such a strong ensemble cast can leave certain characters or actors feeling underutilised. The worst case of this in Season 1 was Hermione Norris’ Roanna.
However, the character of Roanna got a real boost in the final episode when it appeared that she had previous history with her younger lover Simon’s dad (played by the brilliant Neil Pearson). A very interesting plotline to explore considering how much Roanna gave up to be with Simon, ending her marriage and straining the relationship she has with her existing children.
Ditch the ‘Birth Of The Week’ format
As novel an idea as it was to introduce the characters and their respective life struggles in the first season by having them give birth at pivotal points to their story, this is a pattern I hope they discontinue in Season 2. Surely they can’t all simultaneously fall pregnant again?
The births established everything, but the character development can now come from everything that happens after. We already know from the show’s closing montage that Rosie is going to try and get herself deliberately pregnant by not taking her birth control. Perhaps if the second season trailed one of the women’s pregnancies and Rosie gave birth in the finale, this would be a better approach.
More Dev and Jasmine
There’s no doubt that Taj Atwal and Sacha Dhawan’s coupling as Jasmine and Dev was a real highlight.
Atwal’s comic timing added a realistic quality to the birthing drama, while Dhawan’s pressured Dev, trying to hold it all together, was a joy to watch. The events of the last episode, with Dev being reported to Social Services, could be an interesting dramatic angle to take the characters in.
Trim the cast slightly
The strength of In the Club’s played an undoubtedly huge role in the show’s success, but there’s no denying that certain characters have run their course, or at least should be secondary.
As Kim and Susie try to make a go of it, it’d perhaps be wise to lose Jonathan Kerrigan’s Neil, to allow them to focus on their relationship – it’d also give the wonderful Tara Fitzgerald more screen time.
Similarly, Will Mellor’s Rick can be reserved to the odd prison visit cameo, which would utilise Jill Halfpenny’s Diane character as she struggles to cope without her husband while raising four kids.
Maintain the women’s friendships
A major positive in the show’s run is that it had these very different women, from all walks of life, interacting with each other.
Mellor’s writing utilised this well in the first season, creating characters and dialogue that was brilliant in its varied combinations like Roanna and Diane, when Diane confesses about Rick, or Jasmine and Vicki talking about their respective man troubles. More of this would be great.
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What do you want to see in Season 2? Let us know below…