Robert Lonsdale

A look back at Chewing Gum

With the same storytelling dexterity as I May Destroy You, Coel's first series follows a Beyoncé-obsessed 24-year-old on a quest to lose her virginity.

TV review: Chewing Gum, E4

It's good to have Chewing Gum back. It's very different to any other series I've seen recently, while at the same time it has echoes of the BBC hit Fleabag, which it preceded. If that programme was all Phoebe Waller-Bridge's idea about contemporary attitudes to sex, then Chewing Gum is very much Michaela Coel's view of modern romance.

Chewing Gum deserves our attention - review

If life were a sitcom, the scenario would happen in a corner shop just after you've accidentally scrawled pen on your forehead, as happens in the opening episode of series two of the cult hit Chewing Gum (E4).

Chewing Gum is as rude, tender and funny as ever

This half-hour episode is wrought with such care, attention and emotional nuance it could have been expanded into a play (let's not forget that the germ of the series came from Coel's National Theatre hit, Chewing Gum Dreams); there really is not a line out of place.

A sitcom that didn't really find its feet in the first episode was E4's Chewing Gum and I personally struggled to get to grips with the uneven tone that the sitcom presented. One thing that I did like about the show was the narration by the show's writer; award winning playwright Michaela Coel, who also took the leading role of Tracey. The first episode of Chewing Gum saw 24-year-old Tracey try to loose her virginity to boyfriend of several years Ronald (John MacMillan). The audience can see early on that Tracey is a kindly, if rather horny, soul whilst Ronald looks down his nose at his common girlfriend. Tracey's efforts to seduce Ronald are later rebuffed and leave her temporarily heartbroken until she realises what an idiot her now ex-lover was. It's also rather obvious that Tracey will soon end up in the arms of rubbish poet Connor (Robert Lonsdale) who has several encounters with her during the first episode. I do think that my problems with Chewing Gum mainly stem from the fact that I'm not part of the key demographic. Although I found Tracey a likeable protagonist everything about the central story felt rather predictable and there were very few laughs littered throughout the episode. The supporting characters were also thinly drawn especially in the case of Tracey's new love interest Connor and her abrasive friend Candice. Talking of Candice, the subplot which involved her trying to get her boyfriend to be rougher with her in the bedroom just didn't work for me. Furthermore it felt like it had been tacked onto the episode after Cole realised that the central story wouldn't fill up twenty-two minutes on its own. Ultimately Chewing Gum was the least funny of the three sitcoms airing on Tuesday night and it's one that I feel will struggle to find an audience. However I do feel that Cole is a star in the making and so I hope she isn't tainted by the mediocre Chewing Gum as I'd like to see more from her in the future.