From The Bear to Industry, why workplace culture makes for brilliant TV drama

InThe Bear, time’s the ingredient a restaurant kitchen can’t afford to waste. On Richie’s first day as “stagiaire” – industry jargon for a junior chef’s unpaid stint at a high-performance restaurant – the smudge is two days old but not forgotten. Because as The Bear’s early themes of grief and filial duty give way to questions about Carmy’s ambition and the sustainability of his professional life, the series finds its footing as a bona fide workplace drama – a series, like the inimitable Mad Men or the hedge-fund saga Billions, that draws its characters deeper into an insular sphere with its own energy; that is governed by its own laws. Maybe it’s just a clash of egos.“If you really knuckle down and go deep on what these people think and feel about their jobs, about money, about economics, about society,” explains Industry co-creator Konrad Kay, “a show starts to write itself.” “When you throw them all together in a scene, you’re like, ‘F***, everything is immediately conflict.’” There’s a pool of stock characters to draw from. “I love any show about ambitious young people that just feels like it treats the characters with a little bit of respect and doesn’t have to lionise them or really make excuses for them,” says Industry co-creator Mickey Down, who, unsurprisingly, is a fan of The Bear, too.