# This Life (1996)

> Five aspiring London lawyers chase career success while their private lives spiral into love, drugs and excess.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/136

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 32
- Episode runtime: 40 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Amy Jenkins
- Network: BBC Two
- Cast: Jason Hughes, Andrew Lincoln, Daniela Nardini, Amita Dhiri, Jack Davenport, Steve John Shepherd, Luisa Bradshaw-White, Natasha Little
- TMDB rating: 8.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115390/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: candid, sardonic, bruised, tender, raw

## What critics say

Critics broadly praised the show's frank, unglamorous portrait of young professionals and its sharp writing, though its audience was limited and it was cancelled after two series.

## Synopsis

This Life (1996-1997) is a British young adult drama series created by Amy Jenkins for BBC Two. Five aspiring lawyers share a cramped London house while trying to climb the ranks of a demanding legal career. Warren (Jason Hughes) and Egg (Andrew Lincoln) anchor the household, with Anna (Daniela Nardini), Milly (Amita Dhiri) and Miles (Jack Davenport) orbiting their romances, rivalries and late-night excess. The engine of the show is the gap between polished professional ambition and the mess behind closed doors: missed deadlines, shifting alliances, drug binges, affairs and frank therapy-style confessions that surface doubts about who these people want to be. Episodes are built around office politics and domestic flare-ups that spill into one another, giving the series a serialized, character-led momentum across its two seasons. Its tone is candid, sardonic and bruised, with flashes of tenderness beneath the bravado. Set in 1990s London, it has the raw immediacy of a generation coming of age in a competitive city. Fans of Friends, Ally McBeal and Queer as Folk will find resonance in its mix of comedy, heartache and young adult disillusion. The series was cut short after its second season, leaving its storylines unfinished.

## Shows like This Life

- [Cold Feet (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/710)
- [Hotel Babylon (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/1425)
- [Him & Her (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/31142)
- [The Escape Artist (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/42303)
- [Skins (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/849)
- [Industry (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/76962)
- [Coupling (2000)](https://ember.film/tv/2584)
- [Kavanagh Q.C. (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/3997)
- [For The People (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/62631)
- [Eternal Law (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/39411)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt