LOS ANGELES—Britain’s Channel 4 gave viewers an inside look at the U.K. adult industry in October when it aired the four-episode drama series Adult Material, written and produced by playwright Lucy Kirkwood. Now, American fans will get to see the porn-themed series for themselves, when the series debuts on the HBO Max streaming service December 11.
HBO Max, the new streaming app owned by Warner Media which itself went online only six months ago, acquired the rights to Adult Material in October. According to a report by the Hollywood news site Deadline, HBO Max bought the show in a deal with Banijay Rights, whose production arm Fifty Fathoms was responsible for the U.K. Channel 4 series.
The series had been scheduled to air in the U.K. in March, but a 10 p.m. time slot, required to accommodate the show’s sexually frank subject matter, was not available at that time, due to heavy coverage of the coronavirus pandemic on news broadcasts that also aired at 10 p.m. on U.K. networks.
The series stars British actress Hayley Squires as “Jolene Dollar,” a fictional, aging porn performer who struggles to balance a career in the adult industry with the responsibilities of motherhood to her three children. Veteran actor Rupert Everett — perhaps best known in the U.S. for his co-starring role in the Julia Roberts 1997 rom-com My Best Friend’s Wedding — co-stars as a porn producer who oversees Jolene Dollar’s scenes.
Phil Daniels, star of the 1979 cult-classic film Quadrophenia, portrays Jolene’s director.
While some viewers in the U.K. said that they found the show’s explicit portrayal of the adult industry shocking, critics responded enthusiastically to the show, with one saying that Adult Material, “raises big questions about sex, consent and power — and will have you both laughing and crying.”
In addition to the December 11 U.S. debut of the controversial series on HBO Max, Adult Material saw its Australian premier on the SBS Viceland network Tuesday, December 1.
Photo By Channel 4 YouTube Screen Capture
