Channel 4’s YouTube channel was set-up to attract “digital natives”. But no one could accuse Uzo Oleh’s stylish sci-fi drama Beth (available to view, on YouTube, in three 15-minute chunks) of pandering to Zoomers. Gen Zers don’t want kids, that’s what we’re told. Yet the desperate desire to reproduce and/or adopt is at the heart of a story whose playful and poignant title is the Hebrew word for “house”, “home”, “family unit”. Just to be clear, at no point are we introduced to someone called Beth. Seriously, viewers champing at the bit to meet an Elizabeth are in for a whole world of pain.
Instead, we meet Londoners Joe (Nicholas Pinnock) and Molly (Abbey Lee), who may be wealthy, witty and gorgeous, but have a far from perfect life. Joe has such low-quality sperm that, even with the help of IVF, Molly keeps miscarrying. They have a six per cent chance of a natural conception. Which is why they’re ecstatic when Molly miraculously gets pregnant and carries the baby to term. Here’s the catch. When the baby’s born, it looks just like Molly (who is white) and nothing like Joe (who is Black).
