The Couple Next Door (Channel 4) is a sexy thriller and, if we’re honest, this isn’t Britain’s forte. Put it this way: a pivotal scene in which our two main characters lock eyes in a moment of simmering lust occurs while they’re putting the bins out.
In an attempt to be less British – and this is a co-production with US network Starz, so it needs to be – the six-part, boxsetted drama has been given a glossy, international look. Hilariously, it claims to be set in Leeds, and you will believe that if you’ve never been to Leeds and are prepared to accept that it looks like LA’s San Fernando Valley, where the weather is great all the time (apart from the scene with the bins. Because rain is sexy).
It’s enjoyable nonsense. Evie and Pete, played by Eleanor Tomlinson and Alfred Enoch, are a young couple who move into a new home in Truman Show suburbia and are immediately love-bombed by Becka (Jessica De Gouw), a hot yoga instructor who lives across the road with Danny, an equally hot traffic cop who rides a motorbike (because motorbikes are sexy). Danny wears tight, white T-shirts that show off his He-Man physique – he’s played by Outlander’s Sam Heughan – and Becka just wears her underwear when guests pop round.
To be fair, the guests probably expect that sort of get-up, because Danny and Becka are swingers. Not that The Couple Next Door uses the term, because it’s striving to be far classier than that. Becka and Danny have the hots for Evie, and she – despite suffering a horrendous tragedy and being raised in a Christian cult based in what looks like the village from Emmerdale – is soon turned on to the whole wife-swapping idea.
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
