Marriage is largely tedious – Sean Bean’s new TV series finally gets it
The IndependentSign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy In the opening episode of Marriage, husband and wife Ian and Emma clean up after having their daughter, Jess, and her new boyfriend, Adam, over for dinner. Ingmar Bergman’s 1974 series Scenes from a Marriage, remade last year with Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, saw a couple declare their marriage solid, then split up and subsequently go through the marital equivalent of the seven stages of grief. Ian and Emma’s interactions reminded me not so much of fictional dramas than the recent Showtime series Couples Therapy, which allowed us to go behind the closed doors of a therapist’s office and eavesdrop on spouses bickering over household tasks, social arrangements, or the daily grind that is parenting children. With Ian and Emma, much remains unspoken, though that doesn’t stop the viewer from quietly acting as therapist.
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Marriage: BBC viewers divided over slow, realist Sean Bean drama
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Marriage BBC review: Sean Bean and Nicola Walker’s marital non-drama will bore you to tears
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