The BBC’s latest drama Chloe premiered last night (Sunday 6th February), introducing viewers to Erin Doherty’s Becky, a social-media obsessed woman whose former friend and influencer Chloe (Poppy Gilbert in the Chloe cast) dies in mysterious circumstances.
Determined to find out what happened to her ex-best friend, Becky infiltrates Chloe’s high-flying friendship group. The rather unorthodox move is one of the reasons why Becky is such an unlikely heroine, but Chloe writer Alice Seabright still thinks viewers will empathise with her – to a certain extent.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Seabright said: “I don’t know [how people will feel about her]. I’m sure that some people will hate her. Some people will find her irredeemably awful.
“But for me, I think that her behaviour is – many aspects of her behaviour I don’t condone. I think she should go to therapy. Don’t infiltrate a group of friends left behind by your teenage friend after she’s died – that’s a terrible idea. I don’t think any of it is healthy behaviour.
“But I do think that what’s going on underneath, for me, is something I can really empathise with, and there’s a lot of me in Becky. I would never do those things, but I relate to Becky and I put a lot of myself in her.
“I think almost everyone working on the show, and first and foremost Erin, have put elements in. How are you like Becky, rather than saying how is Becky different to us? And I think that that’s just a way of exploring some of those things.”
The Sex Education writer added: “She’s desperate to connect, but she’s desperately afraid of being rejected and so she isolates herself. I think that is super relatable, even if how she deals with it isn’t the best, so I’m sure she’ll split people. And I think that’s interesting as well.
“It raises the question: what can you condone? And what can you not condone? Is it okay to just say ‘these are the reasons why’? Because the story really does go into why Becky is the way she is. Can we empathise with her? Can we understand? But ultimately, does that mean it’s OK?
“It’s very much to say you can empathise with someone and you can still hold them accountable for their actions. Hopefully, both things can exist at the same time.”
Seabright went on to question whether Becky is the series’ heroine at all. “There’s that moment when Chloe shouts at her and says, ‘You think you’re a noble detective, but you’re just a f***king loser creep.’ And it’s like, which is she? It’ll be interesting to see what people think.”
Additional reporting by Abby Robinson.
Chloe continues on Sunday 13th February on BBC One and iPlayer. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.