Mother of all dilemmas in climate change drama The Commons
If you are at all worried about where this planet is heading, then you might be best advised to watch The Commons from behind the sofa. This new eight-part drama on TVNZ OnDemand does not paint a particularly cheerful picture of the future. It centres on Eadie Boulay (Joanne Froggatt from Downton Abbey ), a talented Sydney neuropsychologist who is dealing with increasingly troubled patients. She is longing to have a baby and, as a result, is undergoing a gruelling process of IVF. But, confronted by next-level climate change, she is forced to consider whether it is a good idea even to bring a child into this tainted world. To make matters worse, acid rain is drenching the city and wearing away her immune system. This future-shock drama created by Shelley Birse has many unsettling parallels with the present day. For instance, The Commons features establishing shots of Sydney draped in eerie orange smoke which bear an uncanny similarity to the real-life pictures of the city in the wake of the raging bushfires that devastated New South Wales at the end of 2019. Birse is disturbed that her drama has become so prescient. READ MORE: * Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt on how being 'plain' has helped her career * Liar: Joanne Froggatt on her new, harrowing dating disaster drama * Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt takes on psychological drama, Liar A number of climate elements that form the backdrop for The Commons were imagined as next wave depictions a picture of what might be coming down the road in the next few years. But there have been a number of times during these past few months where its felt scarily more like fact than fiction. Froggatt, who won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Anna in Downton Abbey , chimes in that The Commons is uncomfortably close to our current reality. All aspects of this story are based loosely on something that is happening in our world right now. So the treatments used in the show are based on treatments that are being used right now. The climate change aspects the characters speak of are all based on events that really have happened or are about to happen. The 40-year-old actor was also drawn to the IVF storyline in The Commons . I really liked that Shelley tackled that idea of a woman in her late 30s who is thinking, This is not working for me. Shes having a really traumatic time trying to have a baby, which is something that happens to so many women and couples. She has to think about whether that will define her as a person. While Eadie is trying to fall pregnant, she has to wear a data patch on her stomach so her potential pregnancy is logged and is part of a government process. You cant just go off and have a baby in this world without registering it. You register your pregnancy like you register a car. This strand of the plot is personal. Theres an epic nature to this story, Froggatt muses, but its also about Eadie thinking about the type of world shes going to bring her child into. She begins to realise that society is not pressuring her to have a baby. Its a need that she has that, of course, not every woman will have. Its not a subject matter that we ever talk about very much. This is counterbalanced by Eadies husband, Lloyd (David Lyons), who is much more uncertain about the whole process of introducing a child to such a fragile world. Lyons explains, My character has a daughter already, so the storyline is pretty dramatic in that sense. In order to have a child, Eadie has to compromise her immune system. But if she compromises her immune system, he thinks she might die and, therefore, what was the point? Her perspective is, I need and want a child so much. I want to bring a child into the world who can help change it. They are both really powerful arguments that are pushing against each other. But its not all unremittingly gloomy. The Commons points to a few glimmers of hope. Lyons reflects, At the very core, this drama makes you so much more conscious of whats going on. You dont look at this show and think, Oh, were all doomed. Its more like, Wait a minute, we can actually make changes. Lyons wraps up by expressing the hope that The Commons might help the wider public to bring about those changes. Thats whats really great about the approachability of this show its not preaching. Its actually allowing you to open your mind to what it is that we can do to create a better environment and a better community. The Commons, TVNZ OnDemand