logo
The Change, series 2 review: unapologetic about burying its feet in the soil and communing with birds

The Change, series 2 review: unapologetic about burying its feet in the soil and communing with birds

Telegraph25-03-2025

Have you started your own Linda's Ledger yet? In series one of Bridget Christie's The Change (Channel 4), 50-year-old, menopausal Linda (played by Christie) revealed to her ungrateful husband and teenage children that she had been keeping ledgers of all the unreciprocated chores she had done around their Swindon home. It amounted to 6.5m minutes – roughly six-and-a-half years of thankless domestic drudgery – and Linda announced that she was taking some of that time back. She mounted her old Triumph motorbike and headed to the Forest of Dean to rediscover herself.
Which she did, spectacularly, winning over the sceptical, insular rural oddbods to the extent that she became the local town's first ever 'Eel Queen' at the annual festival (a role that had only ever been an Eel King before). The appearance of husband Steve (Omid Djalili) in the final seconds of the first series, however, has thrown Linda's new life into a spin – she had told the locals she was unmarried and childless – and she now stands accused of 'maternal deception' and faces banishment from the forest.
If that all sounds supremely pagan, it's because it is. The show is a blend of English folklore, folk music, ritual, tradition and eccentricity, with shades of Detectorists and Jez Butterworth's hit stage play Jerusalem (as well as Toby Jones and Tim Crouch's brilliant but cruelly overlooked Don't Forget the Driver). Appropriately, the second series is co-directed by Mackenzie Crook, who created Detectorists and starred in Jerusalem, and these six episodes feel more comfortable in their own skin than the first run. The Change no longer seems to be apologising for burying its feet in the soil and communing with birds.
It's the more prosaic matter of housework that sets the second series in motion, as the women of the area learn about Linda's Ledgers. Soon, the local stationery shops have run out of notebooks and women are queuing up at Linda's caravan to ask about the rules. Is laughing at his bad jokes a chore? Is sex? En masse, women down tools, forcing men to pick up the slack and the whole thing takes on the pleasing air of an off-kilter Greek play. In one lovely moment, the local men go on a sex strike in protest, only to find that their wives are delighted. Je Suis Linda, they say.
As befits modern TV comedy, it's not laugh-a-minute, but The Change is a beguiling and unusual thing (wrapped in the traditions of British sitcom) with a language and rhythm all of its own. Occasionally Christie's roots as a stand-up are revealed, as the show slips into the didactic ('Did you know that…?'), but there is so much verve and zeal in the writing that you can forgive it. In a superb cast, Jim Howick, as a disenfranchised misogynist, and Paul Whitehouse, as the pub bore, stand out. Both characters felt a little cartoonish in the first series, but here Christie imbues them with a sadness and dislocation that feels utterly real. Linda's revolution wouldn't just benefit women.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Shameless star made OBE says Prince of Wales joked about her playing Elizabeth I
Shameless star made OBE says Prince of Wales joked about her playing Elizabeth I

Powys County Times

time2 hours ago

  • Powys County Times

Shameless star made OBE says Prince of Wales joked about her playing Elizabeth I

Shameless star Anne-Marie Duff said she and the Prince of Wales laughed about her previous role playing Elizabeth I as she was formally made an OBE. Ms Duff, 54, played Fiona Gallagher in Channel 4's Shameless TV show and won a best supporting actress Bafta for her role as Grace Williams in Apple TV's series Bad Sisters. The actor also performed as Elizabeth I in the 2005 to 2006 BBC dramatisation of the monarch's life, titled The Virgin Queen. Discussing that role led William to joke 'this should all be old hat for you, or something' during Wednesday's ceremony at Windsor Castle, Ms Duff said. The actor spoke to the PA news agency inside the Berkshire royal residence after being formally made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. Asked if the event had been as expected having played Elizabeth I, she said: '(Windsor Castle) is like a treasure chest, isn't it? Because every piece of every room is swollen with history and art and value, so it's very specific. 'To be in this environment where people do live and do sit down and have their dinner and all of those things – you know, when you're on location, you don't really have that feeling of something like that, but this is someone's home, which is just extraordinary to me.' The Virgin Queen was not filmed at royal residences for security reasons, she said. Ms Duff lives in north London and has a son with her former husband and Shameless co-star James McAvoy. She said she and the Prince of Wales discussed balancing work and parenting and 'how we're all kind of the same'. Her next guaranteed job is not until 2026 and she said she cannot talk about other projects that may pop up before then. 'There's so much nonsense now, you can't even read scripts now without NDAs (non-disclosure agreements)', she said. 'The streamers are like old Hollywood studios, it's like that, it's so bonkers, so you don't get to sort of enjoy the prelude to things with people – you can't say, oh my god, yeah, I'm going to be doing (this). You have to keep everything on the down-low.' She laughed as she said: 'I would love to tell you, Your Royal Highness, but … ' 'There are snipers everywhere, that's what it feels like, seriously, the walls have ears', she added. Ms Duff said a play would be the 'juiciest' next project for her because she prefers the 'communion with people' in theatre, as well as the immediacy and 'being in charge of the chronology'. She said she discussed her preference for the stage with William. She told PA: 'If a light bulb blows, we still go on. It's all of that and the jeopardy of it – when things go wrong, you become so resourceful and having each other's back as a company.' Asked how she felt after being formally made an OBE, Ms Duff said: 'Fabulous, really lucky. You never imagine that – I think especially for people who work in the arts – you never really have a sense of what you do as having a great deal of importance or being a contribution to anything. 'You're just so busy working away. It feels extraordinary to be recognised.'

Shameless star made OBE says Prince of Wales joked about her playing Elizabeth I
Shameless star made OBE says Prince of Wales joked about her playing Elizabeth I

North Wales Chronicle

time3 hours ago

  • North Wales Chronicle

Shameless star made OBE says Prince of Wales joked about her playing Elizabeth I

Ms Duff, 54, played Fiona Gallagher in Channel 4's Shameless TV show and won a best supporting actress Bafta for her role as Grace Williams in Apple TV's series Bad Sisters. The actor also performed as Elizabeth I in the 2005 to 2006 BBC dramatisation of the monarch's life, titled The Virgin Queen. Discussing that role led William to joke 'this should all be old hat for you, or something' during Wednesday's ceremony at Windsor Castle, Ms Duff said. The actor spoke to the PA news agency inside the Berkshire royal residence after being formally made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. Asked if the event had been as expected having played Elizabeth I, she said: '(Windsor Castle) is like a treasure chest, isn't it? Because every piece of every room is swollen with history and art and value, so it's very specific. 'To be in this environment where people do live and do sit down and have their dinner and all of those things – you know, when you're on location, you don't really have that feeling of something like that, but this is someone's home, which is just extraordinary to me.' The Virgin Queen was not filmed at royal residences for security reasons, she said. Ms Duff lives in north London and has a son with her former husband and Shameless co-star James McAvoy. She said she and the Prince of Wales discussed balancing work and parenting and 'how we're all kind of the same'. Her next guaranteed job is not until 2026 and she said she cannot talk about other projects that may pop up before then. 'There's so much nonsense now, you can't even read scripts now without NDAs (non-disclosure agreements)', she said. 'The streamers are like old Hollywood studios, it's like that, it's so bonkers, so you don't get to sort of enjoy the prelude to things with people – you can't say, oh my god, yeah, I'm going to be doing (this). You have to keep everything on the down-low.' She laughed as she said: 'I would love to tell you, Your Royal Highness, but … ' 'There are snipers everywhere, that's what it feels like, seriously, the walls have ears', she added. Ms Duff said a play would be the 'juiciest' next project for her because she prefers the 'communion with people' in theatre, as well as the immediacy and 'being in charge of the chronology'. She said she discussed her preference for the stage with William. She told PA: 'If a light bulb blows, we still go on. It's all of that and the jeopardy of it – when things go wrong, you become so resourceful and having each other's back as a company.' Asked how she felt after being formally made an OBE, Ms Duff said: 'Fabulous, really lucky. You never imagine that – I think especially for people who work in the arts – you never really have a sense of what you do as having a great deal of importance or being a contribution to anything. 'You're just so busy working away. It feels extraordinary to be recognised.'

Fly-on-the wall reality show following very unlikely TV star and his family ends after just one series
Fly-on-the wall reality show following very unlikely TV star and his family ends after just one series

Scottish Sun

time3 hours ago

  • Scottish Sun

Fly-on-the wall reality show following very unlikely TV star and his family ends after just one series

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BEING TV's poshest ever reality show hasn't saved Meet The Rees-Moggs. I can reveal the fly-on-the-wall documentary featuring top Tory toff Jacob Rees-Mogg and his family, which launched with a blaze of publicity last year, has been axed and won't be returning for a second series on Discovery+. 6 Meet The Rees-Moggs won't be returning for a second series on Discovery+. Credit: PA 6 Jacob was seen in the show losing his seat at the General Election last July Credit: PA It is another setback for the former MP, who was seen in the show losing his seat at the General Election last July. A TV insider said: 'Although the critics seemed to lap up the ridiculousness of the show, it didn't quite get the response from audiences they had hoped for. 'Though it was easy to see how the series could run and run, the feeling among the execs was this should be a one-off capturing of a moment in time, namely the last general election.' Jacob felt that making the Keeping Up With The Kardashians-style show was a way to help 'get the Conservative message out there' while admitting it was a 'calculated risk'. But it doesn't seem to have paid off. When it aired last December, it followed him and his incredibly aristocratic wife, Helena, plus their six children — Mary, Peter, Thomas, Anselm, Alfred and Sixtus. The family provided a snapshot of their privileged and eccentric lives as well as charting the MP's bid to hold on to his seat in North East Somerset constituency. Discovery+ were approached for comment. JOHNNY ON ADHD AND ART JOHNNY VEGAS is back with a new documentary. The comedian, who took a break from his Channel 4 series Carry On Glamping after struggling with his ADHD, will head back to his hometown of St Helens in Merseyside to create a piece of artwork for public display. 6 Johnny Vegas will front new documentary Johnny Vegas: Art, ADHD And Me Credit: Rex His most personal project yet, Johnny Vegas: Art, ADHD And Me will follow him on a journey of self-discovery after his ADHD diagnosis in 2022. Johnny said: 'I used to sit at a potter's wheel on stage, and people thought it was a gimmick, but I actually started out as a dedicated wannabe ceramicist. "Art was my educational saviour. 'Over years of an ongoing decline in educational commitment to the very same arts, I felt it was time to kick-start a debate about culture in general, whilst giving something of a visual a symbol of gratitude back to my honestly beloved town.' The two-parter will be shown on Channel 4. SKY Max has confirmed that its rebooted version of panel show Never Mind The Buzzcocks will be returning for another series. Greg Davies will be back in the hot seat for the fifth season of the show, which previously aired on BBC Two from its launch in 1996 to 2015. LAUREN RETURNS AS TV TEC LAUREN LYLE will be getting her detective uniform back on as ITV cold case drama Karen Pirie returns. The actress, who plays DI Karen Pirie, will be joined by her loveable sidekick, DC Mint (Chris Jenks), and the romantically complicated DS Phil Parhatka, played by Zach Wyatt. 6 Karen Pirie is returning for a second series with Lauren Lyle Credit: Rex The story, based on the novel Darker Domain, follows the discovery of a man's body linked to the first series' spine-chilling kidnap of a young heiress and her baby son. The discovery will put Karen under closer scrutiny from her boss, the media and sinister forces linked to the crime which begin to come to light. It will air on ITV this summer. RUTH HAS WILL FOR NEW ROLE SHE waved goodbye to her role in Gavin and Stacey when the series ended last Christmas, but now Ruth Jones has her eyes set on a new character. The actress, who has just released her fourth book, hopes to have her latest novel turned into a TV series so she can play the leading lady. 6 Ruth Jones wants her latest novel turned into a TV series so she can play the leading lady Credit: Getty By Your Side features Linda Standish, a divorced, plus-sized Scots woman in her fifties working at the Unclaimed Heirs Unit, which traces family members of people who die without a will. And it follows her last case before retiring, involving Welshman Levi Norman. Revealing fans ask who she would cast as a character like Linda, Ruth said: 'I'm in my fifties, and I'm a plus-size woman, but admittedly I am not Scottish!' PANEL show Sorry, I Didn't Know has landed its sixth series on ITV. Jimmy Akingbola will be replaced by former Holby City actress Chizzy Akudolu – who will join team captains Eddie Kadi and Richard Blackwood. Filming will take place this summer. CYNTHIA'S LESSONS IN FAILURE AS Miranda Hobbes in Sex And The City, Cynthia Nixon has seen her character have no shortage of mishaps. But far from getting her down, the actress says she has learned a lot about how to deal with things going wrong. 6 Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes in And Just Like That... Credit: © Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and all related programs are the prope She told Elizabeth Day on the How To Fail podcast: 'Right from the get-go, we've seen Miranda fail at a lot of things – and that was the best thing to happen. 'She didn't actually fail at being a lawyer, I think she realised that her life quest to be on top of the corporate law world was a mistake. 'That's the wonderful thing about the show, it shows there's enough time to make a change. 'A lot of people identify with Miranda, and as years have passed, more of them identify with her. I love her.' Series three of spin-off And Just Like That . . . is available to stream now on Sky. Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store