NetflixOtis and the gang are going to be back to tackle more of the nation’s sexual hang ups, as Sex Education has been confirmed for a second season.
There aren’t many places you can get an A* grade sex education these days but Netflix has gone to the top of the class yet again – so much so, the bosses have just announced Laurie Nunn’s show will be debunking even more sex myths over eight more episodes.
Sex Education came early to telly this year, premiering on January 11, but it stoked a fire in the bellies of people young and old who certified it officially ‘Fresh’ on Rotten Tomatoes after just eight episodes.
Sex Education was watched by people in 40 million households within the first four weeks of it being released.
So, prepare to live your best Netflix and chill for a second season and take a deep dive into the in’s and out’s – ahem – of Sex 101, courtesy of a young man called Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield), who lives at home with his mum, Jean (Gillian Anderson), an esteemed sex therapist and author.
No spoilers; Scout’s Honour. You can start slow, with the trailer:
In the first season, the cast of misfits experience the trials and tribulations of dipping their toes into sexual intercourse – some with more past experience than others – nestled into their sleepy Nowheresville Town.
While each character has their own story to tell, Sex Education follows the reluctant theoretical expert, Otis, and his razor-sharp classmate, Maeve (Emma Mackey), the brainchild of the unlikely pair’s underground sex therapy business.
So far, Otis has helped his peers tackle their issues of body image, masturbation, foreplay, porn, ‘wankathons’, as well as consent and image-based sexual assault.
Writer, Lauri Nunn, told UNILAD she’s determined to debunk all the other sexpectations in a ‘frank and funny’ way – and there’s a deep well of role plays out there for her to mine.
Episode one starts with the basics.
We meet Adam (Connor Swindells), the son of Moordale’s headmaster and toxic masculinity-driven school bully who Nunn says ‘desperately needs a hug’.
Nunn explained she took inspiration from a number of Adam-esque guys she knows in real life:
I often take inspiration from people I know from my own life, and Adam is a combination of so many young men I’ve encountered who have been raised in a toxic male environment.
Showing his erectile dysfunction in episode one seemed like an interesting way to chip away at his macho armour and reveal he’s struggling with the pressure to be ‘normal’ as much as his peers.
Sex Education isn’t the only Netflix show dealing with puberty and fledgling sexual encounters, changing the narrative for the better – just take a look at Nick Kroll’s Big Mouth, with its hormone monsters and talking vaginas.
Meanwhile, as Nunn looks forward to seeing ‘where the characters are heading, both on their emotional journeys and in terms of their sexual development’ in the next series, she told UNILAD.
Nunn shared one final message, adding, ‘It’s okay to run your own race, and do things in your own time, particularly when it comes to sex and relationships.’
Netflix’s Vice President of Original Content, Cindy Holland, said:
Laurie Nunn has captured the awkward teenage experience with a lot of heart and humour in Sex Education.
Along with the Eleven team and executive producer and director Ben Taylor, she’s created a universally relatable series that has resonated with our members around the world.
There will be eight new episodes of the show, and filming will begin this spring in the UK.
If you have a story you want to tell, share it with UNIALD via [email protected].
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.