Truth be told, the Americans might just know a thing or two about British culture.
As its first ever UK original series, Disney seems to have hit the nail on the head with the 8-part Wedding Season. Taking the landscapes of rugged London and meandering countryside and fusing them with some jolly hockey sticks humour, the show is a well-paced watch that caters to just the right amount of lightheartedness. You might not want to get married by the end of it, but you will appreciate an on-the-lam whodunnit all over again.
While attending a friend's wedding, out of luck Stefan (Gavin Drea) meets the mysterious Katie (Rosa Salazar). Flash forward in time to Katie's wedding day and her groom and his family have all been killed — with all leads pointing to Stefan. The police have already made up their minds but there are two sides to every story, leading Katie and Stefan to outrun the law.
It would be easy to approach this series as an anglophile skeptic, set on the idea that the show was destined to go one of two ways. Instead, Wedding Season bridges together two essentials perhaps long forgotten by regularly programmed content — high stakes that aren't overdramatised and a continued sense of lighthearted fun. The series never tries too hard with its humour, winning you over like that wedding guest you love but whose name you can never remember.
That's not to say that Wedding Season isn't without its faults. Not in a way you can enjoy scruntising, but perhaps in bigger picture thinking, not fighting its way to the top of the best-watched list. Even so, the show is a surprise in every sense of the word. It's refreshing for an American-owned platform to be so bang-on with its British references, from awkward wedding guests to regretful moments spent by a taxi rank in a dampened London street. The peaks and pits of the UK's countryside are beautifully showcased through the dramatic actions of a tight ensemble cast, with the comedic duo of Drea and Salazar the ideal antidote for the other.
Particular credit has to be given to its opening episode. With its overarching murderous gambit immediately pitched to perfection, the flashbacks charting friendship dynamics through wedding reception missteps deliver laugh-out-loud satisfaction. Whether you're ready to say “I do” or not, Wedding Season brings audiences something new (not old, borrowed, or blue).
Wedding Season streams on Disney+ from 8th September.
