Nicola Coughlan has just spilled cola all over her laptop. “I have a granny tray for eating my dinner in front of the telly,” says the Derry Girls and Bridgerton star over Zoom, “and I dumped it all over my computer.” She dabs at the keyboard, a black hoodie zipped up to her chin. “But it’s fine!” Elsewhere on the chat is Lydia West, breakout star of It’s a Sin and Years and Years, who has her camera turned off so she can pump milk, having just had a baby.
It’s a refreshingly down-to-earth introduction to the pair, who are just about to star in Big Mood, Channel 4’s six-part comedy about two best friends in their 30s – Maggie and Eddie – who live in Dalston, London. Maggie, played by Coughlan, has bipolar disorder and the first thing you’ll notice about Big Mood is that, although it’s about mental health issues, it’s also laugh-out-loud funny. Written and created by Camilla Whitehill, the show is by and about millennials, and if you’re around that age bracket some of the scenes will land alarmingly close.
