![]() ![]() ![]() The first half of the series feels thin and underdeveloped. Were it not for the charisma of Roberts and Thomas, Still Up would probably prove far too slow a burn to keep viewers through the four or five episodes it takes to pull the disparate threads together and become something other than a meandering examination of their unsatisfactory lives. We learn bits of backstory – such as Danny’s traumatising breakup with girlfriend Chloe three years ago – and pick up in lots of tiny ways (and larger ones, like Lisa accidentally matching with a 91% compatibility rate with him when his dating profile goes live) that they are perfect – well, nearly – for each other. For the first few episodes they get through the dark hours by bantering, swapping stories of the useless sleeping tips well-meaning folk have given them (“Wear a hatful of lavender”), pondering the utility of a sleep clinic Lisa is planning to visit, setting up Danny’s online dating account and assorted other trivia. Danny is, naturally, in his flat Lisa wanders hither and yon, using the dead hours for such errands as retail opening hours and bus timetables allow. The lead characters are charming and the actors have great chemistry considering that they are rarely on the same set at the same time. To have it all play out at night-time is a new, if gentle, twist on the friends-to-lovers trope. Theirs is a world of semi-whispered conversations and intimacy forged of necessity as much as attraction. The origins of his condition are not initially revealed but it comes increasingly into play as the eight-part series goes on. Danny (Craig Roberts) and Lisa (Antonia Thomas) are chronic insomniacs whose interactions take place almost wholly over the phone, late at night or painfully early in the morning when the rest of the world sleeps. Still Up is a romcom, but without the rollicking, rollercoaster vibe the word usually implies. ![]()
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