Channel 4 Commissions New Comedy on Female Friendship

Channel 4 has commissioned a new comedy series from Fremantle’s Dancing Ledge Productions (The Responder, Wedding Season) that deals with the topics of female friendship and mental illness.

Written and created by Camilla Whitehill, Big Mood (w.t.) is a six-part series that explores the messy pitfalls and idiosyncrasies of navigating adulthood through humor, anecdotes and unsettling truths.

Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls) and Lydia West (It’s A Sin, Inside Man) star in the comedy.

Coughlan said: “When I first met Camilla Whitehill long, long ago, during the time of indie sleaze, I quickly realized she was one of the funniest and most talented people I’d ever
met. It was always our dream for us to work on something together, and now Channel 4 is making that dream come true. I can’t wait to make this show with this amazing group of people.”

West said: “I’m so happy to be working with Camilla and Nicola on this project. The writing is genius, and the subject explores the mental health struggles that all of our generation
face, coupled with how to navigate complicated, loving and nuanced friendship. Channel 4 is the perfect home for this heartwarming, hilarious, savvy comedy, and I feel truly honored to tell this story which touched my heart.”

Whitehill said: “Getting my own Channel 4 comedy still feels like some kind of long-form prank, Punk’d style. But on the off chance it isn’t, I am beside myself to be making this show
with such an incredible team of people, a cast that I’d be jealous of if it wasn’t my cast, and for a channel that’s produced some of my favorite shows of all time.”

Laura Riseam, Channel 4’s commissioning editor, said: “Big Mood is an authentic portrayal of the passionate, reckless and surreal tales of close friendship threatened by an all-consuming mental illness. It’s outrageously daring, painfully funny and unreservedly poignant—the type of comedy that firmly belongs on Channel 4. We are delighted to welcome Camilla and Dancing Ledge into the fold.”

Laurence Bowen and Chris Carey of Dancing Ledge Productions said: “We’ve always loved Camilla’s writing, so producing her first series with Channel 4 is an absolute treat. Her writing is laugh-out-loud funny because it’s truthful, and that’s what makes her such a star. Add to that two of the best actors in the world, Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West, and one of the finest directors, Rebecca Asher, and we’re well and truly made up.”