Like many people, Mia isn’t as young as she used to be. She isn’t as wealthy as she once was, either. In fact, as Spent (BBC Two, Monday, 11.05pm) begins, her profligacy ($36,500 on brunch and counting) has left her facing bankruptcy – prompting her to quit New York, her home of 20 years, and move back to London, where she hopes to resume her career as a supermodel.
You might think the lifestyle headaches of a former catwalk star would offer little for the average viewer to relate to. But Michelle de Swarte’s smart, grimy comedy has much to say about midlife woes and how, if you’re not careful, it’s all too easy to slip beneath the cracks.
That’s a bleak message. However, Spent sugars the pill with plenty of dry laughs. As Mia, de Swarte is easy to empathise with. If selfish and clueless, she means well and doesn’t understand why life should turn pear-shaped just because she’s in her 40s (old age if you’re a supermodel – and plenty creaky in many other industries, too).
The humour isn’t subtle. At one point, Mia, too skint to afford a taxi, blunders upon a late-night meet-up with people who get up to all sorts with strangers. Later, a modelling job promised by her agent turns out to be a gig as a dog sitter. From fashion icon to pooch-pal, how quickly she has tumbled – and there’s still a way to go before she hits rock bottom.
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De Swarte’s comedy comes from a place of truth and her own experiences as a model – including an unfortunate run-in with Jeffrey Epstein.
She’s also great at family dynamics, as we see when Mia reconnects with her mother (Juliet Cowan), who offers to put her up. Feeling that would be a humiliation too far, Mia turns her down and opts for sofa surfing instead.
The show tackles a host of issues – the modelling industry’s attitude towards minorities, the abuse of power by men in the business, and how different generations handle mental illness. But Spent explores these topics without ever losing its peppy tone or rationing its laughs. This is a well-crafted comedy about serious subjects and a winning showcase for the compellingly deadpan de Swarte.
