'The Trouble with Maggie Cole' Recap: Season 1 Episode 1
It’s Sunday night and that can only mean one thing. A new British series has arrived on PBS and this time it’s The Trouble with Maggie Cole. For the next six weeks, we’ll be getting to know the residents of Thurlbury, a fictional, picturesque coastal village. Starring Dawn French in the titular role, she and a talented ensemble cast play out a distinctly cautionary tale about the pitfalls of spreading rumors with intrigue and a bit of humor.
The debut episode spends a fair amount of time introducing us to the townsfolk of Thurlbury which, we learn early on, is about to celebrate its 500th anniversary. We begin, of course, with Maggie Cole (French), the curator of the Thurlbury Historic Keep. Her husband Peter (Mark Heap) is the headmaster of the town’s primary school and is counting down the days to his retirement.
Maggie calls him bursting with news that she’s been asked to do a local radio interview concerning the Thurlbury anniversary celebration. During the course of this conversation, we are shown that Maggie is quite the busybody – guessing the identity of the "dead bird boy" in Peter’s office and assigning her husband the task of pestering their son and daughter-in-law about having a baby when they come over for dinner that night.
Next, we meet primary school teacher Jill Wheadon, (Julie Hesmondhalgh) who’s brought her class to the keep for a field trip. As Maggie’s best friend, she’s willing to go along with her request to suggest a float at the anniversary celebration planning meeting. All so as not to have Maggie look like a total control freak (which of course, she is).
After the scenic car tour of the area set to the synth-pop stylings of A-ha’s "Take on Me", Maggie arrives at the local pub to meet Jez (John Macmillan) for the radio interview. Not thrilled about his assignment, Jez turns on the charm and insists on buying Mrs. Cole a drink. The interviewer’s eyes glaze over as she rambles on about the history of the area. But when he realizes the G&Ts have loosened her inhibitions, Jez encourages her to prove his listeners wrong about the dullness of her little village by telling tales about her friends and neighbors. So sloshed is she afterward, Maggie must get her hubby to pick her up from the pub.
