Doll & Em

Lore & Background

Doll & Em was commissioned by Sky Living in 2013 as a six-episode order. A 124-minute theatrical cut of the series premiered at the London Film Festival on 10 October 2013. The American cable network HBO acquired the series in September 2013 and premiered it on 19 March 2014.

Reader's Guide

Doll & Em offers a meta-commentary on the entertainment industry through the lens of a friendship strained by professional roles. The show's significance lies in its exploration of power dynamics and identity when a personal relationship becomes a working one. Created by and starring the real-life friends Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells, the series blurs lines between fiction and reality. Its acquisition by HBO after its UK premiere on Sky Living indicates cross-Atlantic appeal. The series was renewed for a second series on 16 October 2014, which began broadcasting on 3 June 2015 on Sky Atlantic in the UK. The show remains a notable example of a small-scale, character-driven comedy that examines the absurdities of show business.

Did You Know?

• The series was created by and stars Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells.
• HBO acquired the series in September 2013, before its UK television premiere.

Creation & Production

Doll & Em is a British comedy television series that emerged from the creative partnership of Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells, who both created the show and starred in its lead roles. The project was commissioned as a six-episode order by Sky Living in 2013, giving the duo a modest but focused canvas to develop their material. Behind the camera, Azazel Jacobs served as both director and co-writer, lending a distinct collaborative voice to the production. The series was conceived as a tight, character-driven comedy rather than a sprawling ensemble piece, with the six-episode structure allowing the writers to maintain a consistent tone and narrative momentum throughout. The creative team's approach—two friends writing, performing, and shaping the story together—gave the show an intimate, improvisational energy that set it apart from more formulaic television comedies of the period. Jacobs' dual role behind the scenes ensured that the visual and narrative elements remained closely aligned with the comedic vision Mortimer and Wells had established from the outset.

Premiere & International Distribution

The release trajectory of Doll & Em was notably multi-platform, spanning both the UK and US markets within a single year. The series first saw public audiences at the London Film Festival, where a specially assembled 124-minute theatrical cut premiered on 10 October 2013. This festival screening offered a condensed, cinema-format experience of the six-episode narrative before the full series reached television. In the United Kingdom, Sky Living aired the complete first series on 18 February 2014, roughly four months after the festival debut. On the transatlantic side, American cable network HBO secured the rights to the show in September 2013—just weeks after the London Film Festival premiere—and subsequently premiered it for US viewers on 19 March 2014. This staggered rollout meant that audiences in different countries encountered the series in slightly different formats and timeframes, with the theatrical cut serving as an early taste for festival-goers while the full episodic version rolled out on cable and satellite platforms months later.

Story & Characters

At its core, Doll & Em follows the evolving dynamic between Em, a successful British actress, and her longtime best friend Doll. The central comedic premise arises when Em hires Doll to serve as her personal assistant, forcing the two women to navigate their friendship through the lens of a professional hierarchy. The narrative also delves into the characters' respective roles within the broader entertainment industry, using the film world as a backdrop for exploring power, ambition, and loyalty. A significant plot thread concerns the production of Em's new movie, which is set to be filmed in Los Angeles. Supporting the two leads, Jonathan Cake plays Buddy, a producer involved in the project, while Aaron Himelstein portrays Mike, the director of Em's film. The ensemble thus frames the central friendship within the collaborative and often chaotic ecosystem of filmmaking, where creative decisions, egos, and personal bonds constantly intersect. The Los Angeles setting adds a layer of displacement for Em, a British actress working in a new environment, further complicating her relationships with both Doll and her professional colleagues.

Renewal & Second Series

Following the initial broadcast of the first series, Sky Living made the decision to renew Doll & Em for a second run of episodes. The renewal was officially announced on 16 October 2014, a date that fell between the UK premiere of Series 1 in February and the HBO US premiere in March, suggesting the network had already begun evaluating the show's potential for continuation even before it had fully aired domestically. The second series shifted its UK broadcast home to Sky Atlantic, with the first episode of the new run airing on 3 June 2015. This move to a different Sky channel indicated a strategic repositioning of the show within the broadcaster's lineup. The fact that the renewal came relatively quickly after the first series' broadcast window closed—roughly eight months after the February 2014 premiere—signaled that Sky saw enough audience engagement or critical momentum to justify a second investment. For fans who had first encountered the series through the London Film Festival theatrical cut or the HBO broadcast, the confirmation of a second series offered the prospect of continued exploration of Em and Doll's intertwined personal and professional lives.

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