“The End of the F***ing World’s” second season just dropped, but showrunner Charlie Covell is showing no signs of slowing down. The British writer is currently developing “Kaos,” her contemporary reimagining of Greek mythology that has been commissioned by Netflix for 10 hour-long episodes that will explore “themes of gender politics, power, and life in the underworld,” according to the streamer.
Appearing on a panel on female writers and authorship at last month’s BFI London Film Festival, Covell teased that “the plan is it [will be] ‘Game of Thrones’-sized — though not, perhaps, tonally quite there.” Instead, she held up the darkly comedic “The End of the F***ing World” as a more apt tonal comparison, revealing that she has put together a writers room of eight, plus herself, and that episode drafts were starting to come in.
Covell got her big break in 2015 through Russell T. Davies, the British TV stalwart famous for creating “Queer as Folk” and rebooting “Doctor Who” in 2005. As a companion piece to his mini-series “Cucumber,” about modern gay life in the city of Manchester, Davies was developing a new TV project, “Banana,” and seeking writers. “I’d written this film called ‘Burn Burn Burn’ [later directed by Covell’s friend, Chanya Button] that hadn’t been made yet but … the script had been sent to Russell as an example of my writing,” Covell explained.
From there, Davies asked her to write an episode, which she also ended up acting in. Having never written for television before, Covell was impressed by her first experience. “This is how I thought telly worked: just write what you want. And then you carry on, and realize that’s very unusual, and you’ve been completely spoiled,” she recalled. Given free rein, Covell wrote a “stand-alone thing about a girl with OCD who goes on a date,” then was given another episode to write. Both scripts were sent to production company Clerkenwell Films, who were adapting Charles Forsman’s graphic novel “The End of the World.” They locked her in to write the series, and halfway through the first season, she was appointed as an associate producer.
In adapting the comic series, Covell’s aim was to stick closely to the source material’s storyline. The story follows teenagers James (Alex Lawther), who is convinced he is a psychopath, and Alyssa (Jessica Barden), who is struggling with a difficult home life. The pair strike up an odd relationship, and decide to run away from home together. Originally set in the U.S., the adaptation transplants the story to the UK, though injected with the occasional Americana detail. Covell’s scripts made a few changes. She’s explained, “We invented two cops, Eunice (Gemma Whelan) and Teri (Wunmi Mosaku) … And we’ve fleshed out the family backstory; Alyssa’s parents aren’t really seen in the original, they’re just mentioned.” To her credit, Forsman himself appreciates the alterations, telling Vulture, “I’m jealous of everything she added to the story. … She didn’t get any of that from my book, and that stuff is so good. I wish I’d thought of it.”
Having had experiences of being the only female writer in the room, Covell acknowledged the frustrations that come with such exclusionary practices. “I was [once] the only woman, and the only non-straight person [in the room] … you end up being the angry person because you keep [saying,] ‘I think that’s a bit — I think that’s offensive, is — no it’s just me, okay. Oh, another rape joke!’ It’s just a bit tiring, and then you realize you’re always moaning.” And exposing the double standard of the cliche that “men write about the human experience; women write about the women’s experience,” she pointed out: “Well, if we had all women, they would be writing about the human experience.”
Covell has confirmed that she doesn’t intend to write a third season of “The End of the F***ing World,” yet with the upcoming “Kaos” set in three worlds — among the Gods, in the Underworld, and on Earth — it seems she is ready to write not just about the human experience, but also a whole lot more.
“The End of the F***ing World” is available to watch on All 4 in the UK, and on Netflix in the U.S. and internationally. “Kaos” is expected to begin production in June 2020.
Previously on Writer to Watch…
Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt, Rising Stars of “Star Trek”
“Derry Girls” Creator Lisa McGee
Sofia Alvarez of the “To All the Boys” Films
Grace Nkenge Edwards of “Insecure” and MTV’s New “Daria” Spinoff
Katie Silberman of “Booksmart” and “Set It Up”
“Insecure” Scribe Amy Aniobi
Marquita Robinson of “GLOW” and “You’re the Worst”
“The Little Drummer Girl’s” Claire Wilson
“Speechless” and “Friends from College” Scribe Broti Gupta
Sierra Teller Ornelas of “Superstore”
“Sierra Burgess Is a Loser” Scribe Lindsay Beer
“Atlanta” Emmy Nominee Stefani Robinson
