TV Review: Trying Series 2 (Apple TV)

Rafe Spall and Esther Smith continue to be charm personified in the second series of Apple TV’s Trying

“No-one’s laminated my life story yet”

As Apple TV continues to try and meaningfully break through, its commitment to its original series is commendable. Ted Lasso is riding the slowburn train to award success and also getting a second series if somewhat more under the radar, sweet comedy Trying has also returned.

The show centres on thirty-something Camdenites Nikki and Jason and their efforts to grow their family. The first series tackled their (lack of) fertility and the start of their journey through the adoption process and this second sees them continuing to navigate this bureaucratic and emotional minefield.

Created and written by Andy Wolton, Trying remains a beautifully judged portrait of contemporary metropolitan living, enhanced by the gorgeous chemistry between leads Esther Smith and Rafe Spall. Perfectly matched, their ongoing doubts about whether they’ll ever be ready for parenthood are a nice counter to the light-hearted japery that often surrounds them here.

Perhaps inevitably, this second season opens the focus out to the friends and family around them, something that doesn’t always quite work so well in the first couple of episodes. But as their best friends Erica and Freddy (Ophelia Lovibond and Oliver Chris) work through their estrangement and Karen (Nikki’s sister) and Scott  (Sian Brooke and Darren Boyd) figure out their own relationship, the interconnectedness of their lives creates real emotional resonance.

Not only that, you get a choice smattering of Imelda Staunton in a truly fine comic performance as their family liaison officer, making Trying a joy to watch. It just needs to somehow break free of the Apple monopoly 🤷.

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