Flack

Set in London, Flack focuses on the high-stakes world of celebrity PR. It follows Mills Paulson PR agency as it works to keep their clients most outrageous indiscretions firmly behind closed doors.

Series one saw PR Robyn (Anna Paquin) finally face the consequences of her numerous addictions, as her work and home life collided catastrophically.

With her relationships damaged beyond repair, and even her own sister rejecting her, Robyn realises she needs to make a change.

Timewasters has charmed critics and attracted healthy audiences with its mix of jazz, time travel and good jokes. Notably, it also has an all-black leading cast but, according to its creator, Daniel Lawrence Taylor, it is, “first and foremost”, a comedy.

GQ magazine described the new Anna Paquin drama, Flack, as “so ­terrible it might just be unmissable”. The verdict of the Daily Telegraph’s TV critic was “sharp and whizzy”, while the Observer hailed it as a “terrific and bittersweet comedy”, “in turns woefully tender and snort-funny”. Whatever you think of the female-skewing Flack, one thing is clear: it’s not a show to ignore.

But a new high-profile drama from UKTV, Flack, starring Anna Paquin as a smart, scheming PR, was arguably ahead of the curve when the idea was first conceived by British writer Oliver Lansley seven years ago.

An RTS Futures audience heard how the show had gone through several iterations before it was eventually commissioned by UKTV’s head of scripted, Pete Thornton.

Flack was originally a half-hour comedy, then a one-hour drama and subsequently morphed into its current form – a 45-minute comedy drama that makes its debut on UKTV drama channel W this week.