Review: Trying
The legal process of adopting a child in Britain can take up to a year, which provides quite a bit of fodder – and surprisingly, some light laughs – for a British comedy series revolving around a couple (Esther Smith and Rafe Spall) who take an alternative route to starting a family when biology fails them.
Currently streaming on Apple+, Trying does try very hard to come across as quirky and endearing - and mostly succeeds. The casting is a plus, as Spall and Smith are effortless around each other, and their conversations convincingly intimate and natural.
Each episode sees them confronting (sometimes disastrous) challenges on their adoption journey, while unravelling new facets of their bond and gradually exposing them as imperfect individuals and works in progress.
The best bits are when they attend an awkward picnic with other potential adopters and are discouraged by the quality of their competition, or when they overhaul their messy rented flat into an Ikea showroom just to impress a visiting social worker.
So will the adoption panel rule that they're ready to be parents, and good ones at that? Nobody ever really is, but it's the trying that counts.
Platform: Apple+
SCORE: 3/5
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