A critically acclaimed period drama, hailed by audiences as a 'masterpiece' and 'the best series I have ever watched', has now arrived for streaming on BBC iPlayer.
Life After Life has been captivating viewers and moving them to tears since its initial release in April 2022. The series presents a unique narrative, following one woman's extraordinary journey as she gets the chance to live her life repeatedly after dying at various points from her birth in 1910.
A Story of Endless Possibilities
The plot centres on Ursula Todd, who is born and dies on the same night in 1910, only to be born again into the same life. With each iteration, events unfold differently, yet Ursula retains only a vague, haunting recollection of her previous existences.
In one of her most daring lives, after enduring the horrors of both World Wars on multiple occasions, she takes radical action and attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The show's synopsis perfectly encapsulates its central paradox: 'Ursula Todd dies one night in 1910 before she can draw her first breath. On that same night in 1910, Ursula is born and survives.'
Critical Acclaim and Audience Adoration
The series boasts a stellar cast, including familiar faces like Jessica Brown Findlay from Downton Abbey, and is told over four compelling episodes. It is an adaptation of the 2013 novel of the same name by Kate Atkinson.
The show's quality is reflected in its rare and impressive 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a testament to its universal critical praise. It also holds a strong 7.3 out of 10 rating on IMDb.
Fans have flooded review platforms with praise, with one writing: 'Such an amazing series! Binged it in one day. The acting, characters, soundtrack, dialogues, storyline... Everything about it is just fantastic.'
Another viewer, a fan of the original novel, commented: 'My all-time favourite novel, brought skilfully and beautifully to life by the BBC. I loved every minute. A masterpiece.'
The series has been celebrated for tackling life's big questions. One emotional review stated: 'A tearjerker and a story that strangely asks you the question: Why are we alive? What this series does in 4 episodes is remarkable and every actor is stellar.'
The Emotional Toll on its Star
The powerful narrative didn't just affect audiences; it also deeply impacted its lead actress. Thomasin McKenzie, who stars as Ursula, described filming the intense emotional scenes as challenging.
She told the Radio Times: 'It's a really tough thing as some days I would turn up on set and not realise how intense some of the scenes would be. I didn't take into account how much that would affect the other scenes we were doing that day.'
McKenzie added, 'It was quite hard, both mentally and physically, to go through so much and so many emotions in one day. You just don’t have as much time to recover from it with such a crazy schedule.'
Life After Life is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
