Like many people, Mia isn’t as young as she used to be. She isn’t as wealthy as she once was, either. In fact, as Spent ( BBC Two, Monday, 11.
05pm) begins, her profligacy ($36,500 on brunch and counting) has left her facing bankruptcy – prompting her to quit New York , her home of 20 years, and move back to London , where she hopes to resume her career as a supermodel. You might think the lifestyle headaches of a former catwalk star would offer little for the average viewer to relate to. But Michelle de Swarte’s smart, grimy comedy has much to say about midlife woes and how, if you’re not careful, it’s all too easy to slip beneath the cracks.
That’s a bleak message. However, Spent sugars the pill with plenty of dry laughs. As Mia, de Swarte is easy to empathise with.
If selfish and clueless, she means well and doesn’t understand why life should turn pear-shaped just because she’s in her 40s (old age if you’re a supermodel – and plenty creaky in many other industries, too). The humour isn’t subtle. At one point, Mia, too skint to afford a taxi, blunders upon a late-night meet-up with people who get up to all sorts with strangers.
Later, a modelling job promised by her agent turns out to be a gig as a dog sitter. From fashion icon to pooch-pal, how quickly she has tumbled – and there’s still a way to go before she hits rock bottom. READ MORE Spent review: A smart comedy that cleverly peppers a bleak picture of modern life with laughs House of the Dra.
