This Life

This Life is a BBC television drama that was produced by World Productions and screened on BBC Two. Two series were broadcast in 1996 and 1997, with a later reunion special in 2007. It centres on a group of law graduates in their twenties, embarking upon their careers while sharing a house in south London. There are no courtroom scenes in either the first or second series, and only one brief scene in the TV sequel. The show became a popular word-of-mouth hit and was included on BFI's list of the 100 greatest British television programmes. Production The series was created by Amy Jenkins, who was also its principal writer. Other writers contributed scripts, including Joe Ahearne (who also directed some episodes—the only person to do both on the series), Ian Iqbal Rashid, Amelia Bullmore, and Matthew Graham. Tony Garnett was the executive producer and Jane Fallon worked as a producer on both series. When the first series was screened it was a modest critical success. Nevertheless, the original production agreement secured a second series. In the lead-up to the broadcast of the second series, the entire first series was repeated, helping to generate a critical buzz around the programme, including front-page newspaper coverage, to the point that millions of viewers were waiting to discover the ultimate resolutions to the various plot-lines.