Warning: The following interview features spoilers for the fourth season of Sex Education.
How is Laurie Nunn, the creator and writer of Netflix’s groundbreaking teen dramedy Sex Education, feeling in the day days before its final series is released to the world? Truthfully, it's all a bit mixed.
There’s of course relief because ‘writing a TV show is quite stressful’, sadness - as she’s mourning the iconic characters – Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), Otis (Asa Butterfield), Maeve (Emma Mackey), Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood) etc – that she’s helped to bring to life. But mostly she's nervous about the reception to the culmination of a show that occupies a special place in the hearts of so many.
Inspired by a seed pitch she received, Nunn originally penned the show as a homage to the teen genre she grew up watching, evident in Sex Education’s transatlantic high school setting (even though the show is filmed in Wales).
The more she wrote and developed headstrong, unique characters all with their own voices, a political undercurrent to the show grew alongside. ’I think that a lot of the conversations around consent, female pleasure and sexuality identity were really swirling around, ‘Nunn explains. ‘Post #MeToo, I was able to really channel a lot of that into the show, and it started to become something that could hold real comedy, but also the more dramatic elements as well.’
Since premiering in 2019, the Netflix series is beloved for its laugh out loud comedic value but also lauded for its inclusive casting, language and story lines. It’s been praised for its honest, realistic and fair portrayals of abortion, addiction and sexual assault and for platforming the stories of young people who are often marginalised over their sexuality and gender identity and how that can intersect with race and socioeconomic background. Plus, the show actually educates too, take Lily’s vaginismus storyline in season two.
As well as the content of the show receiving huge critical acclaim, another undeniable success of Sex Education is in its casting. To say that the lead cast, almost all of whom had their breakout via the show - have all gone on to greater heights is somewhat of an understatement. Mackey won the EE Rising Star BAFTA this year after her performance as Emily Bronte , she then starred in a supporting role in the film of the summer – Barbie – as did Connor Swindells (Adam) and Gatwa who, no big deal, has been announced as the next Doctor Who... Meanwhile Wood, who has won a BAFTA for her Sex Education performance, spent the first half of the year portraying Sally Bowles in the West End production of Cabaret, while Simone Ashley (Olivia) lead the second season of Bridgerton finding global fame in the process.
‘I feel like we're all so proud of them, it just feels like we've all come so far since series one. I mean our casting director, Lauren Evans, has worked magic, because she's found a group of the most brilliant people, and it's been such a pleasure to get to mould these characters around these new faces and get to watch them develop as their characters do.’
The show has lots of sex yes. And the opening scene montages which jump from bed to bed have returned with a vengeance in season four. But with this season there’s also a focus on platonic relationships between the characters as well as their journeys with their own identity too. ‘Even though the show is called Sex Education and is so much about love and relationships. I've always really felt like it's actually about friendship and community, underneath that,’ says Nunn who identifies the most with Otis due to their shared apparent nerdy teen predisposition and closeness to their inspiring single mums, while to Maeve was inspired by her best friend. loosely based the character of Maeve on her best friend. ‘I wouldn't say that I set out to intentionally do that but I remember getting to the end of the series and going oh, “hardly anyone's actually ended up together”. That wasn't necessarily done by design, but I think it speaks to what the show is about really, which is finding your people and figuring out how to support the people around you better, and that doesn't necessarily always have to be in a romantic setting.’
School doesn’t last forever and the returning characters are all gearing up to take their A-levels and bid farewell to school in this season and so mid-way through writing the season, Nunn felt it was time to bid farewell to the students of Moordale.
‘When I went into the writers room, I didn't think that it would be the final series but it was something that came about during the scripting process.It felt like things had come full circle. All of the core characters who had been there since series one felt like they were being left in a place where I felt hopeful for their future. I just thought, ‘this feels like the right time step away rather than try and stretch it out.’
The final scene between Maeve and Otis is the final one of the show, and it’s a triumph, perfectly tying up the premise of the show and their relationship in a neat bow, revisiting the basis of their friendship (setting up a student-run sex clinic, Otis because he wanted to help and Maeve as she needed the money) and everything they learned from each other along the way. It was this scene which Nunn rewrote after deciding it would be the final season. ‘I wrote multiple drafts and I think it started to get a little bit obsessive, where I was like “this words not right”. I suddenly realised it's because I didn't want to stop writing. I knew when I put that full stop it would be the last time I was going to write those characters. That definitely was a sad moment.’
For Otis and Maeve, who formed one of the biggest will-they-won’t-they romantic relationship storylines throughout the show, the ending might surprise those used to the archetypal romantic ending in that, spoiler alert, Maeve returns to America to work on her writing and the two deciding to end their relationship after declaring their love for one another. Why did Nunn opt for that path? The storytelling I'm always attracted to are when it sits in a bit of a grey area, or a happy/sad feeling. I really love the idea that you could have this amazing first love, and it doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be together forever, but that doesn't mean that you haven't completely shaped each other or changed each other for the better. I actually find that more romantic in a way than if they got together at 17 and then stayed together forever.’
As the show closes, when considering its legacy Nunn is most proud of the conversations it’s sparked. ‘I've heard stories of families being able to watch it, maybe not together, but different members from different generations watching it and then being able to start conversations with each other and I think that’s cool but mainly I hope people remember the characters in a fond and loving way, and enjoyed spending time with them. At the end of the day, I think that's why we watch TV, it's almost feels like you're spending time with your friends.’
