Since its return to BBC iPlayer, Irish drama Paula has been doing incredibly well on the streaming service. Earlier this week, it was at #4 in iPlayer’s top 10 most popular chart, and now it’s in second place behind EastEnders.
Starring Denise Gough before she went on to achieve major success in the critically beloved Star Wars series Andor, the three-part drama follows an emotionally-detached teacher who ends an affair with her colleague.
She then has a one-night stand with her handyman, and it looks like she might have gotten in too deep as he tries to pursue something more. But, without going into any spoilers, let’s just say that she’s not the one out of her depth.
BBC
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In a review of the first episode at the time, The Guardian opined: “Every scene is dark, claustrophobic and menacing, and the whole thing has a slight air of suppressed insanity about it.”
Meanwhile, a user on IMDb called it an “excellent, tense miniseries”, adding: “It starts off quite well and has what some may call a dubious ending, but as a whole it’s brilliant. The second episode in particular is loaded with tension, featuring some really nasty moments.”
Speaking about her character in an interview with Stylist at the time, Gough said: “I’ve been in [TV shows] with women getting mutilated and the guy who’s doing the killing, although unlikeable, is hot.”
“I wanted to be part of a similar type of thing but with a woman in that position. The first reaction is always ‘she’s not very likeable’, and isn’t that funny? You wouldn’t say that about Jamie Dornan [in The Fall],” she added.
BBC
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Since Paula aired in 2017, Gough went on to star in period romance Colette, biographical drama H Is for Hawk, and also fronted shows such as Under the Banner of Heaven, Who is Erin Carter? and The Stolen Girl.
She will soon be seen on the big screen in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, though it isn’t currently clear who she will be playing in the fantasy film.
Paula is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he’s covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I’m a Fish.