Beyond Paradise season 2 episode 1 spoilers follow.
Humphrey (Kris Marshall) and Martha's (Sally Bretton) relationship took a bit of a nosedive in season one of Beyond Paradise. Fertility struggles, handsome exes putting on the moves: it was a turbulent ride.
Fast-forward to the Christmas special and the two appear to be on solid ground, which seems to have inspired another character to dip a toe in the dating pool, much to Martha's horror.
"I'm shopping dear," Anne (Barbara Flynn) tells her daughter in episode one as she drags a finger across the phone with a smile.
"For what?"
"A man."
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There's a boldness in her tone laced with a sultry edge and despite Martha's alarm Anne remains willfully distracted by the sea of men that slide across her screen.
Not only is Anne diving back into the dating waters, she's also keeping in step with the modern generation by venturing into online dating.
Silver hearts is her app of choice, "for people of a certain age looking for companionship."
Although her friend Elsie is just after some casual sex.
Anne has already cottoned on to the rules pretty fast. Double tap to dash them in the bin, swipe up to tuck them in your shopping basket. We applaud her zest.
There's a thrilling nature to Beyond Paradise's approach to Anne's dating journey and it is gorgeously uplifting any time meaningful screen time is dedicated to older characters exploring romance in a fun and sexy way.
We adore how the show also takes things deeper than surface level as the episode unfolds. Beyond Paradise explores Martha's complex feelings as the daughter of a widow dating, whilst remembering to centre Anne's experience at the heart of it.
Martha reveals that she is struggling with the idea of her mum dating three years after her father's death, and while she doesn't begrudge Anne the chance to find love again she is worried about her safety.
This manifests in many haphazard ways, starting with her and Humphrey giving Anne 'the talk'. The safe online dating talk, not the other thing. However their fake cautionary tales of men with axes does nothing to deter Anne as she stubbornly tells them and so precedes to prepare to meet Oliver, a man of 63 with his own hair, teeth and house who is dying to sample her tagine.
When Oliver arrives, Martha stalks the two from afar before trying to intrude on their date by showing up and asking to borrow a cup of sugar, bread and a light bulb.
Anne is having none of it though and sends Martha back to her boat where she continues to skulk.
Their mother-daughter hijinks throughout the episode are pretty hilarious but are rooted in a truth not really touched upon. No matter how old you get, watching a parent move on is hard because grief, and all the adjustments that come with it, show up in many different ways.
The most important moments of course come from Anne. As she prepares for her big date amidst Martha and Humphrey's secret plot to murder and dump Oliver's body if he doesn't behave, apprehension creeps in.
The usually confident and bold Martha has a wobble while she agonises over what to wear and her refusal to call it a date, rather an "introductory meeting," speaks volumes. Martha is able to calm Anne down and she hesitantly forges ahead.
The scene where she gets ready is perhaps the most pivotal in the episode.
Anne sits half dressed in a moment of stillness, contemplating.
Her moving on to put on the rest of her clothes may not seem a courageous moment but the smallest steps in these situations often are.
Before heavy-heartedly giving herself the final once-over she picks up a photograph of her late husband giving it a gentle tap and then setting it down.
The scene carries with it all her guilt, her hope, her grief and a thousand more tiny, intricate feelings that couldn't possibly be put into words.
Speaking on Anne's season-two dating journey Flynn told Digital Spy: "[Her dating] was a natural progression but also quite a difficult one to jump in.
"It would have been a great shock to push yourself out there because, of course, after being with someone for so long, you've got your shorthand and your life together, and then you're going to look for someone else. But it's also exciting and funny.
She went on to add: "[Anne] does present quite a brave, social front, and she seems quite sure of herself but there's nothing like losing a husband of many years to kind of take the rug from under your feet. She's building herself up, but trying, probably, to hide a bit. But also opening other doors to make herself more vulnerable and to allow the vulnerability in and her daughter, of course, is incredibly sensitive."
The Silver Heart lovebirds go on to have a pleasant date but ultimately Anne decides not to see Oliver again, saying: "I got the ick… He slurped his soup." Criminal. Toss him overboard.
This isn't the end of her dating quest, though. Oh no: just the beginning.
When sharing where Anne's dating journey will take her this season Flynn told Digital Spy: "Let's say almost every situation you could possibly imagine sort of does occur.
"It was lovely to have different scenes with different glorious men.
"It's a lovely storyline, and I was thrilled with it and it was enormous fun."
As Anne tells Martha and Humphrey at the end of this saga: "There's plenty more fish in the sea, or as your nan said, every pot has a lid, after all, look at you two."
Beyond Paradise airs Friday 22nd March at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
