The risk of cringe British stereotypes felt high. But Mr Darcy fantasies aside, her new series Too Much is an affectionate sendup of the capital
I have watched all six series of Girls at least four times. I watched it as it was castigated for its unlikable characters, lack of diversity, supposed misogyny and sex that wasn’t “fun” enough, and I’ve watched it during its recent gen Z-fuelled renaissance. I never thought Lena Dunham’s show was perfect, or a window on to all of humanity. But as an arch portrait of a handful of upper-middle-class twentysomething women in New York, thousands of miles away from my reality, I’ve always believed that it couldn’t be bettered.
Then Dunham moved to London and released a new show, this time about … me? Too Much’s protagonists are thirtysomethings living in London: Jessica (played by Megan Stalter) moves over from New York after a breakup; her love interest Felix (Will Sharpe) is a Londoner jaded by years of struggling as a session guitarist. The stakes felt high. Not only could a show about my city by an American celebrity be unstoppably cringe, but it could call into question everything I loved about Girls.
Barbara Speed is the deputy head of Guardian Opinion