Rain Dogs review: Daisy May Cooper is superb in this grimy comedy-drama
‘Very British show’ on BBC One is funny but also rude, dark and ‘harrowing’
Fans of Daisy May Cooper have come to love her “distinct brand of confident fecklessness” from her stellar turns in shows such as This Country and Am I Being Unreasonable?, said Ben Dowell in The Times. “Now, she has gone a step further”, with this “grimy and very British show”, which (perhaps surprisingly) comes from the US broadcaster HBO but is being shown on BBC One.
Cooper plays Costello, “a single mum and occasional sex worker” whom we meet being evicted from her London flat. She is locked in a love/hate friendship with Selby (Jack Farthing), a “louche, highly privileged homosexual, newly released from prison”, who acts as a father figure to Costello’s daughter, Iris (Fleur Tashjian). There are elements of the series that don’t ring true – Iris is suspiciously “well adjusted” – but Costello is a brilliant creation, and scriptwriter Cash Carraway “vividly” captures “down-at-heel London”.
Rain Dogs “won’t be for everyone”, but I loved it, said Deborah Ross in The Mail on Sunday. “Billed as a comedy-drama, it is funny but also rude, dark, bruising” and “harrowing”. It’s Cooper’s “most dramatic role to date”, and she proves she is more than up to it: “even when Costello is at her worst, Cooper is capable of displaying the vulnerability underneath”. Farthing, too, is a “revelation”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The series “refuses to play out as an anguished, one-dimensional treatise on class and poverty for audiences to sigh and weep over”, said Barbara Ellen in The Observer. Cooper is superb, and it adds up to a “bold, wild-hearted ride.”
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Anne Hillerman's 6 favorite books with Native characters
Feature The author recommends works by Ramona Emerson, Craig Johnson, and more
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'
Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
Anne Hillerman's 6 favorite books with Native characters
Feature The author recommends works by Ramona Emerson, Craig Johnson, and more
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'
Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
Brian Wilson: the troubled genius who powered the Beach Boys
Feature The musical giant passed away at 82
-
Grilled radicchio with caper and anchovy sauce recipe
The Week Recommends Smoky twist on classic Italian flavours is perfect to grill, drizzle and devour
-
Echo Valley: a 'twisty modern noir' starring Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney
The Week Recommends This tense thriller about a mother and daughter is 'American cinema for grown ups'
-
Larry Lamb shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The actor picks works by Neil Sheehan, Annie Proulx and Émile Zola
-
Stereophonic: an 'extraordinary, electrifying odyssey'
The Week Recommends David Adjmi's Broadway hit about a 1970s rock band struggling to record their second album comes to the West End
-
Shifty: a 'kaleidoscopic' portrait of late 20th-century Britain
The Week Recommends Adam Curtis' 'wickedly funny' documentary charts the country's decline using archive footage