First look: Channel 4 explores Adult Material in new drama
David Farnor | On 14, Mar 2020
Channel 4 has today released the first-look trailer from Lucy Kirkwood’s brand new drama, Adult Material.
Set in modern Britain, the four-part series from Fifty Fathoms delves inside the porn industry from the perspective of a woman who has been working in it her entire adult life and has seen it grow from an illegitimate backroom enterprise to a mainstream and highly profitable arm of the telecommunications industry. Adult Material will interrogate what’s real, what’s fake, what’s up for sale and the impact that these things have on the individuals involved.
Hayley Squires plays Jolene Dollar, a regular mother of three, who is proudly the breadwinner of the family. But Jolene doesn’t have the most conventional of careers: she is one of the top porn performers in the UK. Adult Material ventures into Jolene’s world – to a place that influences all of our lives, whether we know it or not, but none of us ever truly see.
One day on set, Jolene is introduced to Amy (played by Siena Kelly). Amy is 19, not much older than Jolene’s oldest daughter, Phoebe (played by Alex Jarrett). Jolene looks after Amy the way that she looks after every new girl on set, but she can’t protect Amy from her own choices, and soon her relationship with this unstable young woman will see Jolene’s own career and home life start to unravel.
Rupert Everett plays Jolene’s long-term friend, producer and businessman, Carroll Quinn. Carroll has been in the business a long time and has seen the porn industry change to a multi-million-dollar proposition. He’s constantly trying to keep up with the times and technology. Joe Dempsie plays Rich, Jolene’s loving and dedicated long-term partner. Julian Ovenden plays the US porn Kingpin, Tom Pain, a man from porn’s most extreme quarter, for whom ‘no’ doesn’t exist. Kerry Godliman plays MP, Stella Maitland, whose life becomes intertwined with Jolene’s when they form an unlikely friendship. Stella comes to her defence when Jolene’s career, family, and reputation are in tatters.
The series is coming soon to Channel 4. Read on for the 18-rated trailer:
