Starstruck: What the Must Watch reviewers think

Thursday 29 April 2021, 11:33

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week Scott Bryan and Hayley Campbell share their thoughts on BBC Three's Starstruck.

A New Year's Eve romance becomes far more complicated for Jessie (Rose Matafeo) when she discovers her one night stand is a film star (Nikesh Patel).

BBC/Avalon UK/Shamil Tanner/Matt Burlem

Hayley says: “Quite different to Notting Hill”

“I loved it. I think Rose Matafeo is great. I saw her years ago when she was supporting Rob Delaney on one of his tours, and she is a brilliant stand-up comedian. She won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2018 for best show, so it's not like I'm the only one saying that. It's a pretty unoriginal thing to say.

“What I like about the set-up of this show is it's coming from an interesting and original angle. She's largely unimpressed by the fame of Nikesh Patel’s character.

She's not worrying about fitting in, she's not dazzled by the glamour of his world. It's quite different to how it's treated in something like Notting Hill, where Hugh Grant was always the awkward guy who falls apart around celebrity stuff and he's dazzled by everything and all the glamour of Julia Roberts’ character. Whereas with this, Rose Matafeo's character would just rather he wasn't famous.

She's not impressed by any of it and doesn't really care about fitting into his world, they are just two people who like each other and there's all of this stuff in the way.

“It's got an unusual cast, and I didn't immediately recognise any of the actors — bar Minnie Driver — from anything else. They all play these great supporting characters who might only be there for one episode, but you miss them when they're gone.”

BBC/Avalon UK/Mark Johnson

Scott says: “A really uplifting original show”

“I’m a big big fan of Starstruck. There's a scene where Jesse (Rose Matafeo) leaves Tom's (Nikesh Patel) flat and is hounded by paparazzi, but then they all put down their cameras when they assume that she is his cleaner. In fact, they put their cameras down so quickly she gets rather offended.

“I love this comedy because it eloquently captures those awkward early days of a new relationship when you are starting to show your vulnerable side to someone else, but you're also afraid of getting hurt. You see these two main characters slowly shedding their outer layers and it works, just because the chemistry between the two of them is so good.

“Surprisingly you don't really see that many romcoms on television. I think it's because they are seen to be predictable and always heading towards an inevitable happy ending. So I like the fact they've taken the romcom and have moulded and twisted it into something of their own. It's a really uplifting, original show.”