Leo Reich’s new comedy It Gets Worse has arrived on Channel 4, with all six episodes available to stream from today, Thursday 22 October. The first episode also airs tonight at 10:05pm on Channel 4, introducing Ethan, Sam and Abi, three former university friends trying to work out what adulthood is actually supposed to look like while living in London. Reich created and wrote the six-part A24 series and stars as Ethan, alongside Olive Gray as Sam and Emily Fairn as Abi, with Dane Williams playing Josh and India Mullen as Zara. The series is directed by Mounia Akl.

Andrew Scott, Lena Dunham and Amelia Dimoldenberg are also among the cast.

CultureCues caught up with some of the cast at the BFI London Film Festival ahead of the show’s release to talk about where the idea came from, how much of themselves they found in their characters and why friendship sits at the heart of it all.

Leo Reich on Finally Getting It Gets Worse Out Into the World

Reich was very ready for people to finally see the series when we spoke to him, joking that making comedy so long before anyone gets to react to it creates a slightly strange experience. “It feels like I told a joke a year ago and I’ve waited a year to get some laughs,” he told CultureCues. “So hopefully they laugh.”

As for where It Gets Worse came from, Reich said it grew out of a feeling he recognised in both himself and his friends as they moved through their twenties. Life can be easier in plenty of practical ways, but that does not necessarily make figuring everything else out any simpler.

He described “a big existential storm cloud of dread hovering over every decision you ever make”, adding that he found something funny in that contradiction.

Olive Gray Found Plenty of Themself in Sam

Olive Gray told CultureCues that Sam reminded them of a younger version of themself in a lot of ways, although Sam is “way more cynical”.

What really pulled Gray towards the role, though, was Reich’s writing. “There’s something very real about Leo’s writing,” they said, describing it as hilarious while also capturing the characters and their generation in an honest way. “I’m like a sucker for good writing, and Leo is amazing.”

The friendship between the three central characters also translated off screen. Gray described working with Reich and Fairn as “really heaven”, explaining that although all three actors are different, there were similarities between each of them and their characters that made the group click.

Gray also told us that they all somehow share the same star sign as their characters, with Gray and Sam both Sagittarius, Fairn and Abi both Virgo, and Reich and Ethan both Leo. We joked that it was literally “written in the stars”, which got a laugh and pretty much summed up how strangely perfect the casting turned out to be.

Emily Fairn on Bringing Her Own Scouse Background to Abi

Emily Fairn worked closely with Reich on shaping Abi and said they leaned into her own Scouse background when developing the character. For Fairn, that was important to a series about young people living in London because so many of the people building lives there have come from somewhere else. She spoke about that idea of moving to the city with a big dream, only to find yourself paying enormous rent, wondering what you are doing and missing your family back home. “I related to it so much,” she told us.

When we asked what she hoped people in their twenties might take from the series, Fairn gave probably the best summary of It Gets Worse: “It gets worse, but also it does get a bit better.”

For her, friendship is a big part of that. She talked about finding people who see you for who you really are, even when work is going badly or “your boyfriend’s a bit rubbish”, before adding with a laugh that good friends are all you need… “as well as money for rent.”

Dane Williams Knew He Wanted to Play Josh

Dane Williams told CultureCues that as soon as he got the script, he knew he wanted to play Josh, partly because he could already see a lot of similarities between the character and himself. “Leo’s description of the character was so specific and so nuanced,” he said. “I knew exactly, like, I need to do that. That is my character.” Once he read the full scripts and saw how funny the show was, as well as how much complexity there was to Josh, he wanted the role even more.

With It Gets Worse being such a funny show, we also asked what the atmosphere was like on set and whether it was difficult not to laugh, especially with Reich around. “Leo creates such a fun, funny environment on set that a lot of the time you’d just break out into laughter,” Williams said, adding that everyone was still focused on doing the best job they could.

India Mullen Got to Have Fun Being the “Fuckboy”

India Mullen had a slightly different reason for enjoying Zara. She described Reich to CultureCues as “the funniest man alive”, and joked that the role finally gave her the chance to be a bit of a “fuckboy”. Mullen laughed that she had more experience being on the receiving end of that behaviour, so getting to switch sides and play that kind of character was a lot of fun.

For CultureCues, we loved chatting to the cast at the London Film Festival. Everyone was so lovely and funny, and it was clear they all had such a good time making the show together. We’ve watched the full series now too and it is hilarious, with so many moments that had us laughing out loud and plenty that will probably feel a little too familiar if you’ve ever tried to figure out your twenties. We’ll have our full CultureCues review of It Gets Worse very soon.

All six episodes of It Gets Worse are available to stream now on Channel 4. Episode 1 airs tonight, Thursday 22 October, at 10:05pm on Channel 4.

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