This series nails the parenting paradox like no other TV show
Breeders ★★★★★
ABC, Tuesday, July 16, 8pm; all episodes on iview
Comedy-dramas about family life have long been a TV mainstay, but no portrayal of modern parenting has been as unflinchingly honest as the British series Breeders.
Co-created by star Martin Freeman (and inspired by his own experiences as a parent), actor and writer-director Chris Addison (Ollie in The Thick Of It, and a director of Veep) and comedian and The Thick Of It director Simon Blackwell, Breeders, as the title alone should warn you, is not your standard family comedy.
Martin Freeman as Paul (with George Wakeman as Luke), who has problems controlling his rage.Credit: Miya Mizuno/FX
Freeman is Paul, married to Ally (the brilliant Daisy Haggard), and raising two kids: Luke, seven (George Wakeman in the first season; each season jumps forward in time, and the child actors change) and four-year-old Ava (Jayda Eyles). Like many couples, they’re trying to balance full-time careers with parenthood demands and ageing parents. But Paul has an extra challenge: trying to keep his anger in check, especially when dealing with the kids.
The series’ very first scene sets the tone. The kids are screaming and banging around, and Paul is trying to work. Heading to their bedroom, he has a quiet word with himself – “Don’t do this, mate, don’t do it” – before storming into the room and yelling “Jesus f----ing Christ, how many times do I have to tell you to be quiet!” As Paul predicted, it ended with the kids crying and him feeling guilty.
But Paul is not a monster – he’s an exhausted, frustrated parent, albeit one with an anger problem, something that he tries to address across the black comedy-drama’s note-perfect four seasons. The first three are now finally screening on free-to-air (there are plans to screen seasons two and three later this year).
Daisy Haggard and Martin Freeman are utterly believable as struggling parents Ally and Paul.Credit: Miya Mizuno/FX Breeders
Paul and Ally are professionals. They have a nice house in inner London, and they love their children. However, there are sleepless nights, anxious kids, job worries and visits to the ER.
But unlike most TV depictions, Breeders eschews cliches – there are no goofy dad tropes, hapless in-law gags or neat resolutions to big problems. Instead, Paul and Ally are frank (Ally freely admits to feeling stuck; Paul grapples with the fact he’s not the man he thought he would be) and flawed (Paul’s simmering temper underscores most of the family’s turmoil) and are infinitely more real than most TV parents.
After taking Luke to the ER several times, their parenting is questioned, and a Child Services visit is scheduled; Ally and Paul quip about it, but it’s deadly serious. In a similar vein to the British comedy-drama Catastrophe, tonally, Breeders is complex and often uncomfortable. But the writing is sharp, and the characters are all masterfully drawn; Freeman and Haggard are utterly believable, as are Paul’s proudly working-class parents, Jim (Alun Armstrong) and Jackie (Joanna Bacon), whose storylines evolve as the series goes on, Ally’s eccentric mum Leah (Stella Gonet), and in the first series, her rogue dad Michael, played by the legendary Michael McKean.
These parents occasionally drink, smoke and swear. They bitch about other parents at the school gate. They are tired, sometimes incensed, but also very funny; even as Paul’s anger takes a toll on their marriage in later episodes, there are still caustic jokes, often at their own expense.
The core of the BAFTA-nominated series is the minutiae of parenting, a rumination on the fear of parental inadequacy, and, as the seasons progress and the children get older, familial rivalry and unresolved issues. It’s parenting, middle-age ennui, marriage and mental health as you’ve not seen it depicted before. And it’s the most honest portrayal of parenting you’ll ever see.
ABC, Tuesday, July 16, 8pm; all episodes on iview
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