It’s cold. Winter has hit with a bracing ferocity, which makes for a perfect time to curl up up somewhere cosy with a cuppa, a glowing screen and a show to warm the heart and lift the spirits. Dire dystopian dramas don’t seem like the ideal companions at times like these.
There’s sport, which can be engrossing: Wimbledon, Le Tour and the footy provide a wealth of choice. But there’s also a variety of enticing options elsewhere, among them a recent arrival, a couple of continuing series and a trio of perennials that can be relied upon to chase away the chills. Emily Carey and Liam Woodrum in Geek Girl.
Credit: Netflix Geek Girl (Netflix) Describing a show as sweet might sound like damning it with faint praise. A bit of a putdown. With Geek Girl , though, that’s not the case.
Adapted from the first book in Holly Smale’s award-winning young-adult series, the 10-part production invites comparisons with a previous picturesque Netflix hit, Emily in Paris . But it’s smarter, funnier and thankfully lacking the cutesy saccharine quality of Darren Star’s glossy comedy. Plus it has Harriet Manners (Emily Carey), a shy yet plucky heroine who’s a lot less annoying than Star’s titular character (Lily Collins).
An English-Canadian co-production, Geek Girl could be called Harriet in London , at least until the setting changes and it dutifully becomes Harriet in Ottawa . Like Emily in Paris , it’s essentially a rom-com variation on the Alice-in-Wonderland fairytale: a gi.