By Vicky Jessop
Get ready for a summer of mayhem and sexual anarchy: Channel 4鈥檚 hotly anticipated drama, The Couple Next Door, is returning for season two.
Season one told the story of couple Evie and Pete, who moved in next door to the enigmatic Becka and Danny 鈥 and soon became embroiled in a messy multi-person romance. This new season, we鈥檝e got a whole new cast of characters 鈥 or, almost.
With a whole season of messy drama about to unfold, it鈥檚 worth looking back at the previous season to see what unfold 鈥 and who might rear their head again for season two.
It鈥檚 complicated. The series starts with Evie and Pete moving to a new suburban cul-de-sac. It鈥檚 the perfect place to raise their family 鈥 they think 鈥 until they get to know their (apparently very sweet) neighbours, Becka and Danny.
Immediately, Evie鈥檚 smitten with Danny (Pete doesn鈥檛 seem to notice) and their bond is further strengthened when Evie loses the couple鈥檚 baby, which was conceived through IVF.
On a pick-me-up trip to the beach, it becomes apparent that Becka and Danny have an open relationship 鈥 ie. they鈥檙e swingers. Pete is curious, but Evie is even more so 鈥 uh-oh.
During a following trip to a free spa, Evie tells Becka that she and Pete are curious and want to open their relationship too (which Pete isn鈥檛 too thrilled about). Nevertheless, the evening comes around, and while Pete becomes too uncomfortable to continue, Danny and Evie actually have sex.
The drama continues. We find out Danny actually has a secret son called Ethan from a fling he had years back 鈥 which he hasn鈥檛 told Becka about. For some reason, Ethan鈥檚 mother is blackmailing Danny, and in order to stump up the hush money, he ends up doing some work for a diamond thief called Gary (yes, this happens).
The heist goes badly and the diamonds go missing. Pete, who is a journalist, sniffs that Danny is hiding something and thinks this could be his big scoop. In the ensuing fracas, Danny manages to steal back the diamonds and leak the information on his enemy (a guy called Robbie Spencer) to Pete, which results in Spencer being arrested.
His partner, Gary, does get caught, but doesn鈥檛 spill 鈥 nevertheless, Spencer鈥檚 people come after Danny, who leads them to Pete and dobs him in as his 鈥渟ource.鈥
Pete steals Danny鈥檚 gun in the chaos, while Becka then discovers that their bank account is empty and finally finds out about Ethan. Being just as sane as her husband, she doesn鈥檛 confront Danny directly, but instead invites Ethan over to visit her son, his half brother Olly.
Danny fesses up, but there鈥檚 more trouble: Evie then tells him she鈥檚 pregnant with his child. The pair have sex again 鈥 and Danny, who has just realised it can鈥檛 be his (low sperm count) is devastated. Devastated enough to try and cheat on her with his colleague, who turns him down. Yikes.
Things really blow up at the end. Evie tells Pete and her father that she and Danny are in love with each other; everybody is appalled. Pete has a gun; Danny shows up and almost gets shot.
Danny鈥檚 pursuers turn up, and are shot by Evie鈥檚 dad. Pete then shoots Danny in the leg; Evie takes the gun off him and shoots Pete. Her husband.
It鈥檚 all a mess, but by the series鈥 end, Evie and her dad are arrested, and Pete ends up in hospital. But as to the fate of the other characters 鈥 prison? Freedom? A mitigated sentence? 鈥 it鈥檚 all still up in the air.
It鈥檚 been described as a 鈥榥ew start鈥 for the series and features Annabel Scholey and Sam Palladio as high-flying couple Charlotte and Jacob, who both work together at the local hospital. However, things take a turn when they meet their new colleague and neighbour Mia (Aggy K Adams).
As the synopsis states, 鈥渨orking her way into Charlotte and Jacob鈥檚 confidence and eventually their bed, Mia also quickly befriends cul-de-sac outcast Alan (Hugh Dennis), whilst Charlotte has to handle the reappearance of past flame Leo (Sendhil Ramamurthy).鈥 In other words, delicious drama!
Oddly enough, not any of the main characters, but a creep called Alan. He鈥檚 played in the show by Hugh Dennis, and he鈥檚 one of the people who lives in the neighbourhood. He鈥檚 also obsessed with Becka: he stalks her social media, goes to her yoga class and even has a telescope pointed into her window.
He gets away with it because his wife, Jean, is disabled and can鈥檛 go upstairs. Things end when Jean finally does go upstairs and finds out what Alan has been doing. Worse: she looks through the telescope and finds him actually in Becka鈥檚 bedroom in a very compromising position indeed (ie. with his pants down).
Alan realises she can see him and promptly has a stroke. Jean calls the paramedics, and creates a cover story of him checking on the house because he thought there were intruders. Surely the pair have gotten a divorce by this point鈥 which begs the question, what has Alan been doing in the meantime?
The Couple Next Door is streaming on Channel 4 from July 14