If you sit somewhere along the Gen Z/Millennial divide, we’re guessing you’ve read – or at least heard of – Dolly Alderton’s book Everything I Know About Love.
The 2018 memoir was a smash hit for women approaching 30, encapsulating the experiences of being in love, falling out of love, loving your friends, your life, and the overall experience of existing in your 20s.
And if you haven’t read it yet – get your copy here!
While a memoir-to-TV-series adaptation isn’t super common, especially since the author is still alive and creating art, that’s exactly what BBC One has done in making the upcoming series, also titled Everything I Know About Love.
With Dolly at the helm working as a producer, the series is a loose interpretation of the memoir for the small screen, mostly following the misadventures of Molly and Birdy, two best friends taking on their 20s while living in London.
Here’s everything we know about the series so far.
What is Everything I Know About Love about?
Dolly’s memoir covered a lot of ground, so it only makes sense that the seven-episode series had to hone in on a few elements – namely, the friendships Dolly kept when she was a young woman living in sharehouses in London.
The series follows Maggie, played by Emma Appleton, and Birdy, Maggie’s best friend, who is played by Bel Powley. While most of the show takes place in a 2012 sharehouse, it will also feature flashbacks to suburban adolescence in the English suburbs, and give us unflinching insight into bad dates, heartache, humiliation, and the challenges friendships face when romantic love is found.
This was a specific focus for Dolly in the book, who struggled with the perceived ‘loss’ of her best friendship with a woman named Farly, whom she had known her whole life, when Farly fell in love and got engaged.
While Dolly has insisted the show is not an exact representation of the book or her life, we’re guessing Dolly is closest to Maggie in character, while Farly is most likely closest to Birdy.
Who stars in Everything I Know About Love?
The limited series will star Emma Appleton and Bel Powley, two relatively unknown actresses who we think will explode after the series airs.
“Maggie so wants to be liked and loved,” Emma told Porter magazine of her character.
“I can relate to that. [I remember] being in my twenties and having so much life and personality around my friends, but making myself smaller, or duller, in romantic settings,” she explained.
“Dolly started a revolution of talking about and celebrating friendship. Our generation is so much better at making time for our friends.”
Bel is the one taking on the role of Birdy, but she’s previously been seen in the likes of Morning Wars and Judd Apatow’s film The King of Staten Island, which also starred Pete Davidson.
“I am quite Birdy,” she told Porter.
“When I read the book I thought, if this ever gets made, I have to play this Farly character. I felt a lot of affiliation with her: I’m Jewish, I’m organized, I can be a bit anal” Bel said.
Bel also spoke fondly of the friendship element of the book and show, and confirmed that she and Emma, as well as the other members of the on-screen friendship group (played by Marli Siu and Aliyah Odoffin) became quite close while filming, too.
How can I watch Everything I Know About Love?
Everything I Know About Love will premiere on June 8, with all episodes dropping at once.
It will be available in Australia on streaming platform Stan.
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