“It’s glorious. It’s a joy…an early contender for best comedy of the year”
★★★★★ Jessie Thompson, The Evening Standard
“Starstruck… looks set to become the next cultural phenomenon”
Kelly-Anne Taylor, Radio Times
“Starstruck, is an expertly crafted old-school screwball comedy, crackling with wit and sexual chemistry”
Stephen Armstrong, The Sunday Times
“Starstruck is proof we’re in a golden age for romcoms… Matafeo is one of the most interesting and talented figures in comedy at the moment”
Sarah Carson, The I
“Rose Matafeo’s sparky six-parter was the most delightful romcom I’ve seen since Bridget Jones’s diary”
Ian Hyland, Daily Mirror
LONDON – 10th January 2022 – The critically-acclaimed international hit romcom Starstruck, created by, written by, and starring Edinburgh Comedy Award winning comedian Rose Matafeo, returns to our screens on the new BBC Three broadcast channel with its highly anticipated second series next month. Series one was streamed almost 5 million times on BBC iPlayer, making it the channel’s biggest new comedy of 2021.
Co-written by Rose Matafeo, Alice Snedden, and Nic Sampson, and produced by Avalon for BBC Three in the UK and HBO Max in the U.S. The second 6 x 30 series is set to continue the story of Jessie (Rose Matafeo), a millennial living in East London juggling two dead end jobs and navigating the complications of becoming romantically involved with famous film star Tom (Nikesh Patel; Four Weddings and a Funeral, Hulu; Indian Summers, Channel 4). After having decided to stay and pursue a relationship with him, Jessie must deal with the real-world consequences of her grand gesture. Minnie Driver (Modern Love, Amazon; Good Will Hunting) is set to reprise her role as Tom’s agent Cath, while Russell Tovey (Years and Years; BBC One, Him & Her; BBC Three) joins the cast for the brand-new series.
Having received huge critical applause, Starstruck has been nominated for Best Comedy Programme at the Broadcast Awards 2022, and Best Comedy Series at the Edinburgh TV Awards 2021, while Matafeo has been shortlisted for the Comedy Breakthrough Performer award at the National Comedy Awards 2021. The show was highlighted by Rotten Tomato as their #3 best TV show of the year, featured in the Guardian’s ‘Top 10 Best Shows of 2021’, AV Club’s ‘Top 8 Great TV Hidden Gems’, Decider’s ‘Best TV Shows of the Year’, as well as selected as one of the best shows of 2021 in The Decider, Paste Magazine, NME, Thrillist, Washington Post, CNET, The Guardian, The I, The Telegraph, Stylist, Vulture, Concrete Playground, Time Magazine, Buzzfeed, Chicago Tribune, Paper City Mag, Mashable, Hollywood Reporter, NPR, Star Tribune, Jezebel, TV Insider, Boston Globe, and Bustle, while Matafeo was featured in Variety’s ‘Best Performances of 2021’, The Times’s ‘Top 10 Funniest Actors on TV’.
An international hit, series 2 will air on BBC Three in the UK and, at a later date to be announced, HBO Max in the U.S., series 2 of Starstruck will also air on ABC in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand.
Starstruck was commissioned for BBC Three by Controller Fiona Campbell. Executive Producers are Rose Matafeo, Jon Thoday, Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett and Toby Welch. Claire McCarthy produces, and Jamie Jay Johnson (Dead Pixels, Fresh Meat C4) directs. Gregor Sharp and Seb Barwell are Commissioning Editors for the BBC, and Jeniffer Kim is SVP of International Content for HBO Max.
Full transmission details to be revealed in due course
Social Media Handles:
Instagram: @rosematafeo
Twitter: @Rose_Matafeo
For further information contact:
Avalon: Florrie Sheehan, fsheehan@avalonuk.com
BBC: Chris McCluskey, chris.mccluskey@bbc.co.uk
CRITICAL PRAISE FOR STARSTRUCK SERIES 1:
“Starstruck is comedy gold… a gorgeous sitcom that’s young, modern yet strangely old fashioned”
Alison Graham, Radio Times
“The screwball dialogue is fast, flirty and full of one-liners… Starstruck offers that delightful viewing experience where you realise afterwards you’ve had a massive grin on your face the whole time”
★★★★ Rachael Sigee, The I
“Matafeo… seems destined for big things”
★★★★ Anita Singh, The Daily Telegraph
“Post Fleabag it’s a brave actress who ventures into the comic arena of an eccentric drunken young female having one-night stands. It is a rare one who can make it funny and fresh when Phoebe Waller-Bridge has smashed this territory… Yet Rose Matafeo in Starstruck managed it, and with ease… Matafeo has funny bones, she’s worth watching”
★★★★ Carol Midgley, The Times
“This might be the most assured debut of a romantic comedy since Catastrophe”
David Butcher, Radio Times
“It’s really, really funny”
Tom Nicholson, Esquire
“a promising new comedy from writer and comedian Rose Matafeo and it’s definitely the best new sitcom this year”
David Stephenson, Sunday Express
“What sets Starstruck apart as a romcom is Matafeo’s sharp, believable writing… that underlines Matafeo’s status as an assured comic voice of her generation”
★★★★ Steve Bennett, Chortle
“a glorious and shining example of the romcom form”
Boyd Hilton, Heat
“Matafeo is a charismatic performer and excels as writer and star”
Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
“it has warmth and charm and, praise be actual, bona fide chemistry between the two leads”
★★★★ Deborah Ross, The Mail on Sunday
“anyone who enjoyed Hugh Grant as a bumbling innocent in love… will find Matafeo just as charming and twice as believably vulnerable… Starstruck will leave you yearning to know if Tom and Jessie get back together”
★★★★ Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail
“The show… deals with the end-of-20’s panic attack of being alive… more adroitly than a lot of other shows that have attempted to do ever since Girls happened”
Joel Golby, The Guardian
“Funny and sweet, this is a romcom for the modern age”
Sara Wallis, The Daily Mirror
“witty, escapist, and brilliant”
Rebecca Reid, The Telegraph
“Matafeo and Patel are wonderfully likeable and the whole series is a joy”
★★★★ Boyd Hilton, Heat Magazine
“the main draw is the chemistry between our leading pair, which… fizzes nicely”
Ben Dowell, The Times
“must-watch… The show is incredibly watchable; not least because the chemistry between Patel and Matafeo is electric”
Baz Bamigboye, Daily Mail
“likeable and acutely self-depreciating”
★★★★ Robin Wiggs, Daily Mail
“joyful and hilarious”
Camilla Long, The Sunday Times
“charming”
Ammar Kalia, The Observer
★★★★ Mark Wareham, Mail on Sunday
“A star is born”
Mona Tabbara, The Sun
“Rose Matafeo might just be the funniest person”
Mike Ward, Daily Star
“The brilliant new BBC Three and HBO Max comedy Starstruck, starring the hugely talented Rose Matafeo, is certain to tickle our funny bones”
Television RTS Magazine
“funny, lovable, and relatable”
Billie Schwab Dunn, Metro
“a deeply funny and sweet story. A hug in sitcom form, if you will”
Chloe Laws, Glamour Magazine
“Rose Matafeo’s new series promises big belly laughs… expect the same high energy as [her] electric live shows”
Becky Begrum, Elle Magazine
“There are those in love with Rose Matafeo and those who still haven’t seen the New Zealand born comic in this utterly joyous romantic comedy”
Andrew Male, The Sunday Times
“comedy genius”
Empire Podcast
“Quietly revolutionary”
Nick Ahad, BBC Radio 4 Front Row
“Brash, sweet and bingeable”
Moya Crokett, Stylist
“real winner… It’s a lovely, fast-paced comedy”
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke
Notes to Editors:
The full cast includes: Rose Matafeo, Nikesh Patel, Emma Sidi, Joe Barnes, Al Roberts, Ambreen Razia, Alice Snedden, Lola Rose Maxwell, Nic Sampson, Edward Easton, Parth Thakerar, Jordan Stephens, Vincent Ebrahim, Minia Anwar, Minnie Driver, Rosie Lou, Elva Trill, Russell Tovey, Tom Edden, Nick Macduff, Olisa Odele, Jiggy Bhore, Janie Booth, Su Elliot, Lisa Davina Phillip, Tolu Ogunmefun.
About Rose Matafeo
New Zealand born Rose has established herself as one of the most exciting new voices in comedy and is firmly fixed as the “voice of millennials” (Comedy Awards).
A regular face on screen, January saw Rose star in the feature film Baby Done (exec produced by Taika Waititi), while she has featured on BAFTA winning Taskmaster (Ch4), Have I Got News For You (BBC One), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV 1), Unspun with Matt Forde (Dave), Ultimate Worrier (Dave), Hypothetical (UKTV), The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice (Channel 4), The Last Leg (Channel 4), and performed on Conan (TBS). Rose has acted in BBC Two’s W1A, BBC Three’s Pls Like and Climaxed, and E4’s Dead Pixels, while she wrote and starred in the three-part series Rose Matafeo: Temp for Channel 4’s Comedy Blaps.
In the US, she also performed a stand-up slot on Conan (TBS). In New Zealand Rose is the lead writer and star of the sketch show Funny Girls (TV3) which is in its third series, and a regular on panel show 7 Days (Three Now NZ). She also starred in the feature Baby, Done (Piki Films). She is also co-host of podcast Boners of the Heart with Alice Snedden.
About Avalon
Avalon is a multi-award-winning talent management, television production and live promotion group with offices in London, Los Angeles and New York.
Avalon, Artist Rights Group (ARG) and The Agency represent a prolific roster of artists including comedians, actors, presenters, writers and directors. Avalon’s numerous ground-breaking returning television shows currently in production include: Not Going Out (BBC), the UK’s longest running sitcom on air; Taskmaster (Channel 4), the BAFTA-winning hit entertainment format showing in 100 countries; multi Emmy-winner, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), the network’s most successful entertainment show launch since 2010; Starstruck, a new sitcom from the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Rose Matafeo (HBO Max/BBC); Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, from creator Josh Thomas (Freeform); Breeders, a sitcom starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard (FX/Sky); a new series of the iconic British satirical puppet show, Spitting Image (BritBox UK); and multiple comedy specials for Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Netflix.
Other landmark Avalon shows include BAFTA winning and multi Emmy nominated Catastrophe (Amazon Prime Video/Channel 4), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV), multi BAFTA-winning TV Burp (ITV), and Workaholics (Comedy Central USA). Avalon also distributes its catalogue of programmes to over 150 countries worldwide. Avalon has produced many globally successful podcasts and is at the top of the UK iTunes chart with the multi-award-winning Shagged. Married. Annoyed by Chris and Rosie Ramsey.
