David Farnor | On 03, Mar 2018

Hulu and Channel 4 are teaming up for a new comedy series called The Bisexual.

This show explores the differences between dating men and women from the perspective of a person doing both. BAFTA-nominated Maxine Peake (Red Riding, Three Girls, Funny Cow) and Brian Gleeson (Hellboy, Phantom Thread) will star alongside acclaimed screenwriter, director and actress Desiree Akhavan (The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Appropriate Behaviour) in her first television project.

Fresh from winning the Grand Jury prize at Sundance, the Iranian-American filmmaker Desiree Akhavan also directs all six episodes, and co-writes the project with Cecilia Frugiuele, co-creator of Appropriate Behavior and the Sundance winner The Miseducation of Cameron Post (starring Chloe Moretz and Sasha Lane).

The show follows New Yorker Leila (Akhavan), who is feeling lost in London, having just left a 10-year relationship with girlfriend and business partner Sadie (Peake). Moving out of their beautiful, shared apartment, Leila ends up renting a room from neurotic novelist Gabe (Gleeson), a man living in constant fear of missing out and dwarfed by the success of his debut novel which came out 13 years ago and has long been forgotten. Leila finds an unlikely wingman in the form of Gabe. He helps her navigate a new life dating men and women – and Leila, in return, introduces wide-eyed Gabe to the queer scene, while doing her best to help him decipher his unreadable sort-of-girlfriend, Francisca (Guillot).

As Leila comes to lean more and more on Gabe, she finds herself struggling to come out as bisexual to her gay friends, most importantly her best mate, Deniz (Chana).
Meanwhile Sadie and Leila’s relationship hangs in the balance, inexorably linked both professionally and personally. As Sadie makes some big decisions of her own, both begin to question whether it’s a break, or a break-up.

The programme is produced by Channel 4 in association with Hulu in the US. The series is produced by Hootenanny and the creative team behind BAFTA-nominated Flowers. The cast also includes Eva Birthistle (The Last Kingdom, Brooklyn), John Dagliesh (Justice League, Sunny Afternoon, The Monuments Men), Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth, Yardie), Niamh Algar (The Virtues) and newcomers Saskia Chana and Michelle Guillot.

Desiree Akhavan says: “I’m insanely lucky to be working with Hootenanny, Channel 4, Hulu and an incredible cast. This team couldn’t be more intelligent, generous and talented.”

Maxine Peake adds: “I’m thrilled? Or am I excited? Maybe I’m both but at the least very happy to be part of The Bisexual. Desiree is a really fresh, original and exciting voice and dead cool to boot. It’s fun, heart-breaking and thought-provoking and I get to ride a scooter, what’s not to like.”

It is the latest in a string of co-productions by Channel 4 with US streaming services, following Philip K Dick anthology Electric Dreams (Amazon Prime Video), Crazyhead (Netflix) and The End of the F***ing World.

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