# Wanderlust (2018)

> A therapist rethinks her marriage after a cycling accident while the lives and desires of her family, friends and clients unfold around her.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/70029

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 57 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, comedy
- Created by: Nick Payne
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Toni Collette, Steven Mackintosh, Joe Hurst, Emma D'Arcy, Zawe Ashton, Dylan Edwards, Kate O'Flynn, Royce Pierreson
- TMDB rating: 7.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7608238/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: none
- Tone: witty, intimate, offbeat, frank, wry

## What critics say

Critics were divided on the miniseries, with its frank take on marriage, desire and open relationships praised for Toni Collette's performance but seen as uneven.

## Synopsis

Wanderlust is a British comedy-drama miniseries created by Nick Payne and broadcast on BBC One in 2018. Toni Collette stars as Joy Richards, a therapist who begins to question the spark in her marriage to Alan after a cycling accident forces her to reassess their life together. Around her, her son and daughter navigate their own romantic lives, while friends, neighbours and clients pursue love, lust and forbidden desire. Across six episodes, the series moves between intimate household scenes and the wider entanglements of an English community, so each episode feels like a slice of life. The engine is Joy's quiet unease: she wants to rekindle what she and Alan once had, but the people she counsels keep showing her how fragile and complicated desire can be. Its tone is offbeat, frank and wry, with sharp humour undercutting raw emotion. Viewers who enjoy candid looks at modern marriage and at desire outside conventional boundaries will find much to recognise in its frank, observant portrait of adult relationships.

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