Nicola Coughlan is stepping out of the ballgowns and heading back to comedy with the new series Big Mood. The actress is joined by Lydia West (It’s A Sin), and the two play ride-or-die friends reminiscing over their mad 20s and dealing with their evolving relationship. The Channel 4 comedy now has a U.S. release date in April!
Coughlan first made a name for herself in the Channel 4 series Derry Girls, which followed a group of girls (and their one male friend) living in Derry, Ireland in the ’90s during the final years of the Troubles. The comedy was a huge success with the first season pulling in a whopping 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes and becoming the biggest comedy on the channel since Father Ted. Coughlan then joined the cast of Netflix’s Bridgerton as Penelope Featherington, the youngest daughter of the Featherington family and best friend to Eloise Bridgerton.
In Big Mood, Coughlan returns to Channel 4 for the six-episode comedy drama. She plays Maggie, a woman with bipolar disorder, opposite West’s character Eddie. Their friendship is put through the wringer as they navigate their 30s, career crises, and mental health issues.
The show was created by Camilla Whitehill, whose friendship with Coughlan serves as the inspiration for the series. Speaking to Variety on their friendship, Coughlan explained,
“We met like a million years ago at drama school in Oxford. She was training to be an actor. And then when we left drama school, we were both in various states of not working and everything being a bit crap. And she was like, ‘I’m not gonna be an actor, I want to write.’ I went to see her first short play night and she was just – she’s always been insanely funny. But then, when I saw it, I was like, Oh, she’s gonna be a famous writer. But our 20s were like the struggle bus. And then the fact now the show is happening… I’ve always wanted to work with her. And then for Lydia to be part of it is the biggest dream.”
The series will be directed by Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Rebecca Asher and will also star Niamh Cusack (The Virtues), Eamon Farren (The Witcher), Luke Fetherston (Doctor Who), and Kate Fleetwood (The Wheel of Time), with Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones’s Diary).
The show is set to air in the U.K. in the fall of this year, but will also fly across the pond to land on screens in North America. Deadline confirms that Tubi has gained the rights to air the show in the U.S. and Canada, with Adam Lewinson, Chief Content Officer at Tubi saying,
“Big Mood is a powerful series that is unapologetically authentic… With the much-welcomed addition of Big Mood to our slate of relevant comedies, Tubi is doubling down on content that appeals to our fastest-growing segment of young and diverse viewers.”
Big Mood is set to premiere in April on Tubi.
(featured image: Netflix)
