Netflix orders new British comedy drama Sex Education
- Netflix is making a comedy drama about a teenage virgin who sets up a sex therapy clinic at his school
- The series will be filmed in 2018, for publication on the streaming platform in 2019
Netflix is making a British comedy drama about a teenage virgin who sets up a sex therapy clinic at his school.
The show will focus on Otis Thompson, a socially awkward virgin who lives with his mother, a sex therapist.
The producers explain: "Surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations about sex, Otis is a reluctant expert on the subject. When his home life is revealed at school, Otis realises that he can use his specialist knowledge to gain status. He teams up with Maeve, a whip-smart bad-girl, and together they set up an underground sex therapy clinic to deal with their fellow students' weird and wonderful problems."
They add: "Through his analysis of teenage sexuality, Otis realises he may need some therapy of his own."
The show has been written by Laurie Nunn, and will be produced by Eleven Film, the production company that recently made travel-based comedy drama Gap Year.
The series, which will begin filming in 2018 for publishing worldwide on Netflix in 2019, will be overseen by Catastrophe and Cuckoo director Ben Taylor.
Jamie Campbell, who will act as an executive producer on the show with Joel Wilson, says: "We are delighted to bring Laurie Nunn's brilliant creation to life with such a gifted team. Netflix is an exceptional partner and we are thrilled to go on this journey together."
Speaking further to Variety about the show, Campbell explained: "It pretends to be a show about sex but it's actually a romantic and funny show about love. It's an antidote to shows that present the teenage experience of sex as superhumanly confident and experimental. Our characters have an endless supply of sexual problems that need to be solved. Otis has the expertise to provide the answers, but has problems of his own, starting with the fact that he's never had sex himself.
"It's unflinching in its treatment of sex, but it's not gratuitous. We want to move on the conversation about attitudes towards sex and identity."
Cindy Holland from Netflix comments: "We couldn't be more excited to partner with the Eleven team, creator Laurie Nunn, and executive producer and director Ben Taylor to bring Sex Education - a distinctive, fresh and witty examination of the universally awkward teenage experience - to our members around the world."
Casting details are expected to be revealed in 2018.