Trailer: Netflix’s Sex Education starts lessons this January
David Farnor | On 02, Jan 2018
“I wish my mum was a sex guru.” “Trust me, you don’t.” That’s Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his friend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) in Sex Education, Netflix’s new coming-of-age comedy.
It’s neat enough premise for some awkward growing pains humour, but one that takes on even more promise when you realise that Otis’ mother, Jean, is played by none other than Gillian Anderson. Surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations with her, Otis has become a reluctant expert on the subject of what goes on between the sheets. So when his home life is revealed at school, it’s no surprise that Maeve (Emma Mackey) is sharp enough to spy an opportunity to make some cash – by opening up an underground sex clinic to help their fellow students.
Created and written by Laurie Nunn and directed by Ben Taylor (Catastrophe) and up-and-coming helmer Kate Herron (BBC Three’s Five by Five), the series unzips on Netflix on Friday 11th January. Here’s a tease to whet the appetite:
Sex Education: Season 1 is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.
First look: Netflix offers Sex Education to all in 2019
4th December 2018
Netflix is offering Sex Education to everyone around the world this January, with its new coming-of-age comedy/drama.
The series, which tackles modern sexual and romantic experiences, friendships and contemporary young adult life, stars Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield. Anderson plays Jean Milburn, a 46-year-old woman who is funny, observant and always larger than life. She is fiercely independent and has no filter when it comes to interrogating people about their personal lives, which makes her a brilliant sex therapist. She lives at home with her only son, Otis. She and her ex-husband Remi, another sex therapist, have little to do with each other unless it involves Otis’s welfare. Early on, she made a decision to never shield Otis from anything and to always speak to him like an adult. As Otis has got older and more sexually repressed, she worries that some of these parenting decisions may have backfired.
Butterfield plays the 16-year-old Otis. Now his parents are divorced, he lives with Jean and has grown up listening to her home-office therapy sessions through cracks in his floorboards. This overexposure, combined with the early trauma of walking in on his dad, Remi, cheating on Jean with a therapy client, have given Otis a phobia of his own sexuality. Blessed with the gift of intuitive sexual understanding; cursed with the inability to do anything about it. His incredible breadth of knowledge about human sexuality is both his super-power and his kryptonite. Then Otis comes to the attention of Maeve, who changes his outlook on sex forever.
Emma Macke co-stars as Meave Wiley, the 16-year-old scary, bad-girl in school, whose outward persona disguises a whip-smart intellect and a wicked sense of humour that she reserves only for those closest to her. Maeve lives alone in a caravan she can barely afford; she has to think of ingenious ways to pay the bills, doesn’t know her dad and her mum is an addict.
The trio are joined by Kedar Williams-Stirling, Connor Swindells and Aimee-Lou Wood as fellow school pupils Jackson Monroe, Adam Groff and Aimee Gibbs. Now, we’ve got our first look at the full cast in action, with a bunch of new pictures released by Netflix.
Sex Education launches globally on 11th January 2019. Read on for the photos:
Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield sign up for Netflix’s Sex Education
19th May 2018
Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield have signed for Sex Education at Netflix.
Described as a “coming-of-awkward-age dramedy”, the series intertwines sex, relationships and insecurity, as it follows Otis Thompson, a socially awkward high school virgin who lives with his mother, a sex therapist. Surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations about sex, Otis is a reluctant expert on the subject.
Asa Butterfield will play Otis, who realises that he can use his specialist knowledge to gain status. He teams up with Maeve, a whip-smart bad-girl, and together they set up an underground sex therapy clinic to deal with their fellow students’ weird and wonderful problems. Through his analysis of teenage sexuality, Otis realises he may need some therapy of his own.
Anderson, meanwhile, will play his mother. She joins the project after dropping out of American Gods and reprising her role of Scully in two revived seasons of The X-Files.
They will be joined by Ncuti Gatwa (Stonemouth), Connor Swindells (Harlots) and Kedar Williams-Stirling (Will).
The series is produced by Eleven, with executive producers Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson. Laurie Nunn is creator and writer and Ben Taylor (Catastrophe) will direct and executive produce. It will be released in 2019.
Netflix to give subscribers Sex Education
29th November 2017
Sex, relationships and insecurity will intertwine in Sex Education, a new series ordered by Netflix.
Described as a “coming-of-awkward-age dramedy”, the show follows Otis Thompson, a socially awkward high school virgin who lives with his mother, a sex therapist. Surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations about sex, Otis is a reluctant expert on the subject. When his home life is revealed at school, Otis realises that he can use his specialist knowledge to gain status. He teams up with Maeve, a whip-smart bad-girl, and together they set up an underground sex therapy clinic to deal with their fellow students’ weird and wonderful problems. Through his analysis of teenage sexuality, Otis realises he may need some therapy of his own.
The series is produced by Eleven, with executive producers Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson. Laurie Nunn is creator and writer and Ben Taylor (Catastrophe) will direct and executive produce.
“We are delighted to bring Laurie Nunn’s brilliant creation to life with such a gifted team. Netflix is an exceptional partner and we are thrilled to go on this journey together,” says Campbell.
“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with the Eleven team, creator Laurie Nunn, and executive producer and director Ben Taylor to bring Sex Education – a distinctive, fresh and witty examination of the universally awkward teenage experience – to our members around the world,” adds Cindy Holland, Vice President of Original Content, at Netflix.
The series will begin production in the UK in the spring.