About consent and gender politics

Chewing Gum star Michaela Coel is writing a major drama series for BBC Two about consent and gender politics.

The show, which has the working title Jan 22nd was announced at the Edinburgh TV Festival, where the actor is to  give the keynote MacTaggart Lecture this evening.

It is one of several dramas announced by the BBC, including a new version of The Elephant Man story, starring Stranger Things's  Charlie Heaton, an emotional thriller called  The Nest from Nicole Taylor and Sally Rooney’s adaptation of her forthcoming novel Normal People.

Piers Wenger, the controller of BBC Drama, said: ‘ I am thrilled to announce the BBC is working with Michaela Coel on her next project for television. Jan 22nd  will be must-see TV for anyone with an interest in modern gender politics or anyone who is struggling to get to grips with the new rules of sex and dating. 

‘We are enormously lucky to have a writer-performer of Michaela's courage, vision and wisdom to help us navigate such complex and confusing terrain. This is something really special.’

Coel said: ‘I feel weirdly overwhelmed and honoured to be making something again, something I’m making myself, with a great team.’

Jan 22nd is described as being about ‘a group of fictional friends and colleagues whose sexual adventures frequently collide with a world in which new codes of sexual practice are emerging’.

Published: 22 Aug 2018