Living Proper

SYNOPSIS Paddy Reece is the newly appointed manager of his dad Karl’s fish and chip shop: Karl’s Codpiece. Clover Fields is his recently dumped employee. In a moment of spontaneous lunacy, the pair of down-on-their-luck chippy staff decide to move in together, hoping to survive their sinking seaside town before they sink with it. Forever flirting with financial ruin (and everyone else for that matter), the two mates are put through the ringer of chip shop politics, bonkers family members, stalking exes, and the wonderful world of one night stands (“I couldn’t cum ‘til I was 24!”). Together, Paddy and Clover learn that home is more than just a place, and friendship comes in all shapes and sizes. CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS CLOVER A bit traumatised from her “slut years”, Clover is a lost lamb in her late twenties. With a lack of self-belief that suffocates her intellect and potential, she is floating through life until reality hits, and wakes her up to a world of possibility. PADDY Stuck in a loop since leaving school years ago, Paddy is a young bachelor in golden handcuffs. With no language for his feelings, and some very toxic habits, something’s gotta give for him to get off the hamster wheel and wake up. STEVE Landlord of local pub, The King’s Feet, Steve is both rugged and gentle. As the strength and voice of reason for everyone in town, Steve has heard it all and seen even more. He is everything our protagonists aspire to be, and to be with. POPPY Level-headed barmaid Poppy is resolute, earthy and unshakeable. She is a woman who knows what she wants, and is unapologetic about putting herself first, even if that means walking away from things that no longer serve her. LOU As overbearing mothers go, Lou is the pick of the bunch. The epitome of what Clover is desperately trying not to become, Lou and her daughter share an underlying desire for love and acceptance from others. KARL “Men don’t talk about their feelings” is Karl Reece’s mantra. With unresolved grief around the death of his wife, Paddy’s mum Patricia, Karl is rife with toxic masculinity, and trying desperately to portray a life of success and contentment. RUBY Smart, funny, sexy and driven Ruby is Paddy’s Achilles heel. A firecracker with a wicked tongue, Ruby goes after what she wants with no fear of the consequences. KAREN Like Nigella Lawson in fishmongers garb, middle aged waitress Karen is the flirty fart machine with a heart of gold and a few screws loose. NEIL Clover’s dad Neil uses money to cover up the fact that he has failed in his responsibilities to her. After being given a second chance with his new family, money driven Neil learns the hard way that the size of his wallet can’t bridge the gap between him and his first born. KEV Dependable, warm, hopeful pot wash Kev is head over heels in love with Clover and in awe of Paddy. Kev aspires to follow in his employer’s footsteps’, but ends up on his own journey of love and self-discovery. PETE Pete - an ex-fisherman in his 80s - is a kind and solid gentleman. A stalwart Karl’s Codpiece customer (“Two battered sausages and a tray of chips, please”), dependable Pete never changes... but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. LEE Lee is the underwhelming, sexually vanilla softboi who Clover has been going out with for years. The classic safe bet, Lee prefers making money to living life, and cares more about creating the image of success than in the healthiness of his relationships. Other characters include Spanish sensation of sexuality Manuel, Hartfield Hall housekeeper Diana, Bank Clerk extraordinaire Derek, Kev’s all braces and high-pitched laugh girlfriend Lucy, DJ Dave (Classic), Northern Claudia (the supermodel from Hull), Clover’s American half sister Winter, Kelly the unbearable shop assistant, Lee’s new girlfriend Nicole, Bumble date Cindy, Ben the Chemist, a rather disgruntled customer, an unsuspecting diner, a large number of sexual conquests, and the baby booming Brexiteer dinner guests: Donald, Harold and Bernie. MAIN STORY ARC Clover’s story begins at the end; the end of a long term relationship. After boyfriend Lee accepts a work transfer, Clover finds herself alone and down in the dumps. Convinced she has to get back out into “the meat market”, she develops feelings for pub landlord Steve, but it all moves a bit too quickly for her. We meet Paddy as one way of life gives way almost accidentally to another. Living in a bedsit he doesn’t care about, frequenting the local pub, and seeking his dead mother in every relationship, Paddy has convinced himself that the bachelor life he leads is making him happy. After Clover confides in him at work, the pair grow closer as friends, and they decide (through a less than subtle prompt from Paddy) to move in together. After a drunken first night in the flat, they embark on a business idea: Fish and Chips on Wheels. Genius. But there’s trouble in paradise for the two friends. Paddy is so used to operating alone, and Clover - who always takes the path of least resistance - avoids saying how she really feels. Resentments build, and only a friendtervention can force the two of them to confront their worst fears, and actually be honest. Following a series of catastrophic events, Paddy is Clover’s shoulder to lean on when times get tough. Paddy is fast becoming a man who cares for others, and Clover a woman finally standing up for herself. Clover and Paddy are invited to a dinner much posher than they are at the nearby Hartfield Hall. With her estranged father Neil (and a sister she never knew she had) in attendance, Clover chooses her own politics over politeness, honesty over people pleasing, and discovers how good it feels to call out a lecherous old man on his appalling behaviour. Meanwhile Paddy’s already fraying relationship with his father unravels further. They argue, and Karl humiliates his son, dragging his dead mum - and the shame she’d feel for her son’s behaviour - into it. Paddy internalises all his pain, but it starts to come out sideways. The pair advance their business plans with money Clover has been secretly saving. They buy a food truck, learn to drive, take out a business loan, and grab life by the horns. Clover is standing on her own two feet, and Paddy is moving past the drudgery his life had become stuck in. But it turns out you really can have too much of a good thing, and old habits die hard. Just as Clover’s relationship with Steve seems to be going somewhere, things go horribly wrong. Paddy acts out in a massive way after an argument with Poppy, and with a fallout that overwhelms him, he runs away. Fast forward a few months and we see the two besties trying (and failing) to piece their lives back together without Steve and Poppy. All it takes is a couple of poorly timed Bumble dates - and a shock revelation from stalwart customer Pete - to make Clover and Paddy realise what it is they want. After Paddy fails to catch Poppy before she leaves town, he turns not to his worn out ways for comfort, but to the loving embrace of his family. With grief and heartbreak tearing him up, he reconciles with his dad, and acknowledges his mistakes. Clover meanwhile, has the surprise - and time - of her life.