A new comedy drama about a couple who meet up after a year apart and find they’re still in love.
Written by Bill Gallagher (The Prisoner, Lark Rise to Candleford), the Manchester-set Love Life will tell the story of the faltering relationship of Joe and Lucy.
Feeling in a good place and as if she’s ready to settle down, Lucy mentions she might stop taking the pill which sends commitment-phobic Joe running for the nearest airport to travel the world and scale Mount Everest before he gets tied down.
Twelve months later, travel-bedraggled Joe returns from trekking in the Himalayas and having conquered Everest to find Lucy has moved on with her ‘love life’. Their eyes meet across a crowded Friday night bar and as they gaze and smile at one another there’s an instant connection. They are clearly still very much in love, but a year has past and so much has happened to both of them.
Lucy is now living with her father, Will, after giving up her job working for husband and wife partnership Dominic and Penny at the Tile Your Life bathroom and kitchen store.
Life had become complicated with Dominic as Lucy grew closer to him after Joe had gone travelling. Lonely and craving affection, she began an ill-fated affair with Dom, but knew from the first passionate kiss that what she was doing was wrong and would hurt Penny who she’d once counted as a friend.
Tearing herself away, Lucy pursues her life away from Joe and Dom until Joe steps back into her world and her ‘love life’ becomes complicated once more.
Will Dominic feel he has to tell his wife Penny – who appears to be going through her own mid-life crisis – of his affair with their former employee and her friend? Relying heavily on family, Penny goes to her Mum Liz for life guidance, whilst Joe is now living and working as a scaffolder for his brother Dez (married to Lynda with four children).
Each turn confidante and shoulder to cry and each have their own views on how Joe and Lucy should unravel their entangled and problematic romantic lives. Whilst travelling, Joe has also met attractive lumber-jack shirted Alex who is younger than him and more like him than he cares to admit. He knows all he needs do is click his fingers and Alex would be happy to fall into his arms. But Joe still wants lovely Lucy, the woman he really loves with all her life baggage and complications.
The drama will intercut between present day and flashback to the previous twelve months as we piece together the jigsaw that is their lives.
The show is being produced by Red Production Company. Chief Executive Nicola Shindler, who will executive produce, said: “It’s going to be a painful and heart-wrenching journey, but it’s a romantic comedy so there’s lots of moments that will make you smile as Joe and Lucy search for harmony and happiness”.
ITV by Director of Drama Commissioning Laura Mackie described the show as “a tender and funny story about grown-ups who refuse to grow up”.