Wartime period dramas are standard fare for the BBC, but Life After Life, based on Kate Atkinson\u2019s novel<\/a> of the same name, is an example of the genre with a twist, following a young woman who can die and be reborn an infinite number of times.<\/p>\n In 1910, Ursula Todd is born during a snowstorm and dies instantly, strangled by her umbilical cord \u2013 but she is reborn in an alternate timeline, living an alternate life.<\/p>\n Stuck in a time loop, she is destined to relive her life as a 20th century woman each time she dies.<\/p>\n Despite killing off the young Ursula in multiple ways (from drowning to Spanish influenza), the first episode is still a beautiful watch, with soothing narration provided by Lesley Manville and the knowledge that Ursula will get her do-over and avoid the same fatal mistakes as before through her powerful new sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/p> Last Night in Soho star Thomasin McKenzie plays the lead role of Ursula in the series, although the first episode largely focuses on Ursula\u2019s childhood years during the First World War, with two younger actors in the Life After Life cast<\/a> portraying Young Ursula (including Isla Johnston, who played the unsettling, bob-haired Young Beth in The Queen\u2019s Gambit<\/a> on Netflix<\/a>).<\/p>\n However, flash-forwards in time reveal Ursula as a young woman during the Second World War, and bidding farewell to her favourite brother, Teddy, who \u2013\u00a0like their father two decades earlier \u2013 has enlisted.<\/p>\n At the start of the episode the now-adult siblings discuss the possibility of living life over. \u201cWhat if you could come back and live it all over, again and again?\u201d Teddy asks.<\/p>\n Those are wonderful, exciting words,\u00a0what if<\/em>, Ursula tells him, unaware that the scenario described is her own, secret reality.<\/p>\n The BBC Two adaptation also stars Fleabag<\/a>\u2018s Sian Clifford as Ursula\u2019s mother Sylvie, and Mare of Easttown<\/a>\u2018s James McArdle as Ursula\u2019s father Hugh.<\/p>\n In this opening episode, Clifford in particular gives a great performance as the contrary Sylvie, who is at once both loving and negligent, inflexible and mercurial. When the anxious Ursula confides in her mother about her vivid dreams of drowning, Sylvie becomes convinced that something in wrong with her child.<\/p>\n Life After Life combines much of what appeals to British viewing audiences \u2013 a rose-tinted English countryside of old, a wartime setting, a stellar cast \u2013 but with its mind-bending, time-looping twist, it is entirely its own beast.<\/p>\n Life After Life airs on Tuesday 19th April at 9pm on BBC Two. You can order Kate Atkinson\u2019s novel<\/a> Amazon. Read more news, interviews and features on our Drama<\/a> hub, or find something to watch now with our TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n By Flora Carr Published: Tuesday, 19 April 2022 at 12:00 am 4.0 out of 5 star rating Wartime period dramas are standard fare for the BBC, but Life After Life, based on Kate Atkinson\u2019s novel of the same name, is an example of the genre with a twist, following a young woman who can die […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14101,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/life-after-life-review-wartime-bbc-drama-gets-a-time-loop-twist.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/life-after-life-review-wartime-bbc-drama-gets-a-time-loop-twist-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/life-after-life-review-wartime-bbc-drama-gets-a-time-loop-twist-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/life-after-life-review-wartime-bbc-drama-gets-a-time-loop-twist.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/life-after-life-review-wartime-bbc-drama-gets-a-time-loop-twist.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/life-after-life-review-wartime-bbc-drama-gets-a-time-loop-twist.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/life-after-life-review-wartime-bbc-drama-gets-a-time-loop-twist.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Flora Carr Published: Tuesday, 19 April 2022 at 12:00 am 4.0 out of 5 star rating Wartime period dramas are standard fare for the BBC, but Life After Life, based on Kate Atkinson\u2019s novel of the same name, is an example of the genre with a twist, following a young woman who can die…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/14100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/377958-811e851.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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