The Couple Next Door season 2 is here with more secrets and scandal in suburbia, this time starring Annabel Scholey.
In the raunchy anthology drama, Annabel plays Charlotte, a successful heart surgeon who seems happily married to Jacob (Nashville's Sam Palladio), a top anaesthetist, and lives in a swanky cul-de-sac in Yorkshire. But their lives are soon upended when mysterious nurse Mia (The Witcher's Aggy K Adams) joins their team at work and also moves into their street.
As both Charlotte and Jacob are tantalisingly drawn to Mia, tensions mount, while the return of Charlotte’s ex-lover Leo (Heroes' and Never Have I Ever's Sendhil Ramamurthy) also causes turmoil. But events take an even darker turn when patients start unexpectedly dying at the hospital...
Here, in an exclusive chat with What To Watch, The Split, Rivals and The Serial Killer's Wife star Annabel Scholey tells us more about The Couple Next Door season 2…
The Couple Next Door has so many twists and turns. Did you watch the first season, which starred Eleanor Tomlinson and Sam Heughan?
“Yes, I found the first run gripping but our characters are 10 years older and are dealing with a different time of life so there’s a new flavour. There's also a thriller element, which brings an exciting level of threat!”
How do you see Charlotte and her marriage to Jacob?
“Charlotte is interesting because she seems to have it all. She’s in the fast lane at work, has a lovely house and marriage but she’s reached 40 and thinks, ‘What am I going to do with the next bit of my life?’ On the surface, their marriage works, they're equals, although you see cracks. But they don’t particularly think they're unhappy until Mia shows up. Then Charlotte starts to question things and has a self-awakening. Then she unravels…”
What does she make of Mia?
“Her first reaction is to back away, because Mia is confusing, but Charlotte’s fascinated by her. Mia holds up a mirror to Charlotte's life, throws her off-centre, and makes both her and Jacob behave in ways they don't recognise. That's the start of a spiral. But there are unsolved mysteries surrounding Mia. She’s got more layers than she appears to have. You don't know who to trust. Everyone has hidden agendas and there are twists.”
And how does Charlotte react when her ex-love Leo comes back into her life?
“Leo represents what Charlotte could have had. She's in a real sliding doors moment with, ‘Did I choose the right man?’ Jacob was the safe option, and Leo went off traveling. But when he comes back, he's still single, and they're still attracted to each other, and they're also good friends. It emphasises that maybe things with her and Jacob are not quite so good as we thought at the beginning…”
Do you think it’s going to cause debate among viewers at home?
“Yes, this is Gogglebox material! Viewers are going to be asking each other, ‘Would you do that?’ There are certain points where they're going to be horrified with some of the characters. But mostly I just hope it makes people think about being true to themselves and talking to their partners and being honest. That's what makes a good relationship and keeps you together.”
Could you do any research into playing a surgeon?
“I had the opportunity to go into surgery and see an aortic valve replacement. I’m squeamish but it was like the human side left me and I just watched the medicine. It was amazing and I thought, ‘I wish I'd gone to medical school’. Then on set, I enjoyed the challenge of acting with just my eyes [with the surgical mask on] and looking like I was doing the right movements.”
And how did you find learning the medical jargon?
“I made a decision that I needed to learn that weeks in advance, and I would just run through the medical words when I was walking around my apartment. Or I would say them to my husband and he’d go, ‘What are you talking about?!’ But I just needed it to be second nature, and the Belgian surgeon who took us into the real operation also helped me to understand it.”
While it’s a predominantly new cast, Outnumbered's Hugh Dennis returns as voyeuristic neighbour Alan, what can you tell us about that?
“I think Hugh Dennis is great. I'm such an admirer of his work. So I’m pleased he is back and it’s nice to have a character to link the series. I know he does comedy beautifully but he's actually really beautifully dramatic in this as well, there’s a real sadness there. He's got a great storyline. It's moving, and it shows the power of redemption.”
And what was it like working with the rest of the cast, as some of the scenes are quite challenging?
“They were a brilliant bunch. We got on so well. I met Sam in the chemistry read and I'd googled him in advance and saw how tall he was, so I wore heels, because he's about a full human taller than me! He's just such a brilliant, instinctive actor, and I like to work like that too. I felt very relaxed with him and also Sendhil and Aggy. We had to be quite brave but we had a brilliant intimacy coordinator, who made that much easier for all of us.”
Finally, how did you find filming the series in Belgium and the Netherlands, which stand in for Yorkshire?
“The street’s in the Netherlands and we got to know the homeowners. When it snowed, they brought us hot doughnut dumplings called oliebollen, which were the best thing I’ve tasted! And we went to the Christmas markets in Belgium!”
The Couple Next Door season 2 airs on Monday 14, Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 July at 9pm on Channel 4 in the UK and the concluding episodes are set to air the following week.
The box set will be available on Channel 4's streaming site from the launch date.
We will let you know about a US release date when it is announced.
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