# My Mad Fat Diary (2013)

> A troubled teenager returns to her friends in 1996 Lincolnshire after a psychiatric hospital stay, trying to hide her mental health struggles behind a sharp, darkly funny front.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/54106

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, drama
- Created by: Rae Earl
- Network: E4
- Cast: Sharon Rooney, Nico Mirallegro, Jodie Comer, Dan Cohen, Ciara Baxendale, Jordan Murphy, Darren Evans, Turlough Convery
- TMDB rating: 8.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2407574/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: darkly funny, candid, tender, wry, anxious

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim the show for its frank, funny and painful portrayal of a teenager recovering from a suicide attempt and rebuilding her friendships.

## Synopsis

My Mad Fat Diary (2013-2015) is a British teen dramedy created by Rae Earl for E4. Sharon Rooney plays Rae, a sharp-tongued sixteen-year-old in 1996 Lincolnshire who has just left a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt and must rejoin her friends while hiding her mental health and body image struggles. Her friends, including her best friend Chloe (Jodie Comer), believe she spent the last four months in France, and that secret drives the engine of each episode: Rae tries to keep up appearances at school and at home with her mother Linda (Claire Rushbrook), while a budding romance with Finn (Nico Mirallegro) and the group's rivalries push her toward pieces of normal life she has not earned. The show runs for three short seasons of sixteen episodes in total, a serialized story built from the everyday texture of teen friendships, gig nights, and therapy sessions. Its tone is candid, darkly funny, and tender, with a 1990s soundtrack and provincial British setting adding warmth. Fans of Skins, Fleabag and Girls will find resonance in its frank, self-aware young female voice and its refusal to sentimentalise mental illness.

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