The ‘It Gets Worse’ Trailer Makes All the Mistakes of Your 20s
Andrew Scott is still stealing this show out from under its leads.
Channel 4 initially commissioned its latest hit comedy, It Gets Worse, in early 2025. The coming-of-age series, featuring three 20-somethings trying to make it in London, seemed destined to wind up on BritBox at best, Hulu at worst; either way, it’s the sort of series that hasn’t historically done well in the U.S., either because of its position on niche streaming or because it’s lost on a larger streaming service without any marketing.
However, that all changed when the first clip with Andrew Scott went super viral ahead of the show’s debut at the 2026 London Film Festival. With Canada’s Crave co-producing the series, it looks like another LGBTQ+ romance in the vein of Heated Rivalry. Unfortunately, HBO – which would have streamed the show weekly – did not scoop it up. Instead, it’s newly adopted sister network at Skydance, Paramount has picked it up for Showtime... where it will not actually debut.
If the show were actually airing on Showtime, it would be a weekly release, much like The Woman in the Wall or A Gentleman in Moscow. Instead, it’s going to arrive as a binge dump on Paramount+... but only the “Paramount+ with Showtime” tier. If you think that doesn’t make sense, you’re correct, but considering Skydance’s stock is already sliding, and the tech money that funded it is about to disappear in the coming A.I. collapse, this is merely just more par-for-the-course incompetence.
Here’s the Paramount+ version of the synopsis:
Ethan, Abi, and Sam are best friends from uni, soulmates for life, and dysfunctional roommates. It’s been a year since they finally managed to move to London, they have collectively accomplished nothing, and now their landlord is selling up. They’re getting kicked out. What now? Can they keep their friendships alive when they are dispersed across a city that seems to want them dead? Can they find a six out of ten or higher to have bad sex with? Can they get their shit together when the world is so obviously falling apart? Probably not. But they’re going to have fun trying.
The series stars Leo Reich (Too Much) as Ethan, Emily Fairn (The Responder) as Abi, and Olive Gray (Sex Education) as Sam. The series also stars Sean Delaney (Killing Eve) as Abi’s boyfriend, Tom; Dane Williams (Bergerac) as Ethan’s love interest, Aaron; and India Mullen (Normal People) as Sam’s potential girlfriend, Zara.
The supporting cast is absolutely stacked, including American actor Lena Dunham (Girls) as Abi’s Boss, Andrew Scott (Sherlock) as Ethan’s therapist, and author Zadie Smith as the show’s narrator.
Other high-profile supporting cast includes Blake Harrison (Bookish), Kirsty Bloom (Supacell), Arian Nik (The Split Up), Safia Oakley-Green (Legacy of Spies), Nicole Sadie Sawyerr (Twenty Twenty Six), Phil Zimmerman (Silent Witness), Billy Rilot (The Undeclared War), Luca Kamleh-Chapman (Alice & Steve), Vicki Pepperdine (Wuthering Heights), Amelia Dimoldenberg (Industry), plus small-screen newcomers John Tothill, “Babymorocco” Clayton Pettet, and Emmeline Downie.
(Paramount+)
Reich created It Gets Worse and penned all episodes, with Boiling Point director Mounia Akl helming all installments and Sam Pinnell producing. The series was commissioned for Channel 4 by Charlie Perkins, Head of Comedy, and produced by A24.
It Gets Worse will debut with all episodes on Paramount+ with Showtime on Friday, November 6, 2026.
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