Imagine a smart, new, heartfelt comedy that serves heaping helpings of humanity alongside big belly laughs. Now, imagine that it’s debuting on a completely free streaming service, meaning you don’t have to pay a single cent to get swept away by its jokes. You might be thinking of last year’s stealth streaming smash, Jury Duty, which rocketed to popularity on Amazon’s FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) platform Freevee, or Tubi‘s brand new, buzzy acquisition, Big Mood.
Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan and It’s a Sin standout Lydia West star in Big Mood as messy best friends Maggie and Eddie. Over the course of the first season’s six episodes — all of which are now streaming on Tubi — we watch as they throw Love Actually-themed birthday parties, pounce on toxic exes and problematic high school crushes, and stand by each other through some of the most tumultuous trials in life.
Big Mood is an enchanting show that weaves together the mad humor of classic British comedies like Absolutely Fabulous and the pathos of contemporary exports like Fleabag or I May Destroy You. The fact that it’s landing on Tubi, another FAST service that’s been growing by leaps and bounds, means it might be poised for a similar breakout moment like Freevee’s Jury Duty.
The team at Tubi agrees. “Big Mood is a powerful series that is unapologetically authentic,” said Chief Content Officer Adam Lewinson, in a statement. “With the much welcomed addition of Big Mood to our slate of relevant comedies, Tubi is doubling down on content that appeals to our fastest growing segment of young and diverse viewers.”
Big Mood, created by British playwright Camilla Whitehill, follows millennial besties Maggie and Eddie as they navigate relationships, ambitions, and rat hotels (not a typo) in modern-day London. However, there’s a catch. Maggie struggles with bipolar disorder. Convinced that her medication inhibits her creativity as a writer, Maggie has secretly been foregoing her treatment. That means she vacillates wildly between episodes of intense, ebullient mania and the bottomless pit of depression and self-loathing. Eddie is nothing if not loyal to her ride-or-die bestie, but when Eddie’s world begins to spiral with newfound challenges and lingering trauma, it’s unclear if Maggie is capable of reciprocating the friendship.
“I just found it so real,” Big Mood star Lydia West told Decider during a recent in-person conversation. “I just describe it as, like, ‘My London.’ Like, I just know these girls. I have lived in this area. I know the pub that [Eddie’s bar] Wet Mouth is based on. It just felt really like I hadn’t seen a show that just depicts London and East London in that way.”
“I just found it so real. I just describe it as, like, ‘My London.’”
Lydia West
“And then going another layer into the issues that it discusses and brings up with mental illness, bipolar disorder, and other themes, like grief and fertility….Like it just feels so relevant.”
The drama of Big Mood is indeed relatable in an all-too-tragic way. It’s hard to think of anyone who hasn’t been affected by mental health struggles, either their own or those of loved ones. However, Big Mood never loses sight of the fact that while it’s important to deal with Maggie and Eddie’s issues with empathy and candor, it is, at its core, a comedy. The show is chockfull of hilarious punchlines and the bonkers situations that have long served as the bedrock of the sitcom format.
Nicola Coughlan has been real-life best friends with Big Mood creator Camilla Whitehall since their years in drama school and couldn’t help but gush to Decider about her pal’s work.
“I’m so proud of her and proud for the feedback she’s been getting,” Coughlan said. “There was this beautiful piece about the writing that said they hadn’t seen comedy writing this good since Fleabag. She deserves every bit of praise she gets.”
Of course, the show’s writing is just part of its appeal. Big Mood arguably soars because of Coughlan and West. The Irish and British actresses, respectively, have been steadily making names for themselves in shows as varied as Derry Girls and Years and Years, but Big Mood harnesses their talents like never before. Yes, they have to both navigate the ups and downs of modern adult life, but they do so together. Coughlan and West really make you believe in Maggie and Eddie’s borderline parasitic relationship…and that you’d want to be their best friends, too.
“The fact that the show sold to America and Canada and Australia before it had come out in the UK, it’s like a testament to how insanely brilliant a writer Camilla Whitehill is.”
Nicola Coughlan
“I did not have a choice whether I wanted to do the show or not,” Coughlan told Decider, explaining how her real life best friend Whitehall roped her in to Big Mood‘s hijinks, Maggie-style. “I was basically told she was writing a show and I was in it.”
“That’s quite hard to pitch to your agent because it was a show that didn’t really exist yet. There was no script, no station it was going to be on, but it all worked out for the good.”
West joked to Decider that “unlike Nicola, I was sent the job and I wasn’t forced to do it,” but did emphasize that Coughlan was already attached to the project when she read the scripts. “I just really wanted to be involved and I was just so honored to be asked.”
Big Mood has already premiered on the UK’s Channel 4 and Australia’s Stan in the last month, but today it’s finally available to American and Canadian comedy fans via Tubi. Both Coughlan and West told Decider that they’re over the moon about Big Mood‘s North American streaming home.
“The fact that the show sold to America and Canada and Australia before it had come out in the UK, it’s like a testament to how insanely brilliant a writer Camilla Whitehill is,” Coughlan said.
“Just the fact that’s been picked up — like it’s insane — globally,” West said. “It’s our baby. Like we love this show.”
“We put so much of our soul into it and when you make something and you truly love it and you love everyone that’s part of it, and then other people will resonate with it, you’re like, ‘Yay, you’re being kind to our baby.”
Now that their “baby” is out in the world, Coughlan and West are looking to the future. Big Mood Season 1 ends on something of a “sucker punch,” as Coughlan describes it, that both actresses would love to resolve.
“I definitely want to come back for Season 2,” West said.
“I want to come back so much,” Coughlan concurred.
“It’s like any love story. When it ends. You’re kind of like, where? What next? Like, do you resolve it? Do you come back together? Or do you go your separate ways?” West said. “So I think that’s what I want to see from Eddie and Maggie.”
“There’s just so much more of them that I want to explore and see how they progress and I want to see Maggie become well, as well,” Coughlan said. “I feel like that’s a really important thing.”
“Selfishly,” West said, “I just want to go back.”
“I just want to go back,” Couglan echoed. “So people have to watch the show so we can.”
