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Love, Nina begins with us first seeing the titular character walking barefoot, which she does constantly… because she’s quirky. However, there’s no way anyone would do that normally, given all the crap on the ground.
Nina (Faye Marsay – Shona in Doctor Who: Last Christmas – one of the few good elements of that episode, plus Game of Thrones where she wasn’t called Shona), is a live-in nanny for literary editor Georgia (Helena Bonham Carter), for two boys, all living in North London and set in 1982.
A near-30-year-old playing a 20-year-old, Nina’s ‘adventures’ Nina include not being able to understand what ‘Breakfast Tea’ is, or grasp what it’s like to live with non-carpeted floors, and states that she only replied to the job advert because she wanted to live in London. Her only work experience is in a care home and the opening gambit from the children she’s due to look after is “are you a virgin?”
And, as she comes from Leicester, she only offers Leicester City as a football team she’d support, so that’s fortuitous timing.
Narrating her life, the title stems from the premise that Nina is writing to her friend Vic, hence each episode ends with her signing off “Love, Nina”.
The series has certainly bagged good cast members with Jason Watkins and Ms Carter. I’ve seen both of the first two episodes, and Faye Marsay is very cute, but even her winsome ways is not enough to make this a must-watch for a whole five episodes. And five is an odd number for a series, too, since most 30-minute comedy/dramas are set to last a round six.
Love, Nina Series 1 is available to pre-order on DVD, and the series continues next Friday on BBC1 at 9.30pm. If you missed it, you can watch the first episode on BBC iPlayer, up until June 19th, and click on the above packshot for the full-size version.
Episode 1 Score: 5/10
Director: SJ Clarkson
Producer: Derrin Schlesinger
Writers: Nick Hornby (based on the memoir by Nina Stibbe)
Cast:
Nina: Faye Marsay
Georgia: Helena Bonham Carter
Malcolm Tanner: Jason Watkins
Jamie: Alex Beckett
Ursula Vaughan Williams: Selina Cadell
Ray: Sam Frears
Radio interviewer: Martha Kearney
Nunney: Joshua McGuire
Joe: Ethan Rouse
Max: Harry Webster
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.