This is The End

As the global population continues to age, conversations about end-of-life care and assisted dying weave in and out of the mainstream consciousness. It’s those very conversations that make up the central ethical conundrum of Sky Atlantic’s brilliant new dramedy, The End.

Starring Dame Harriet Walter (Sense And Sensibility, Atonement) and Frances O’Connor (Mansfield Park, Mr Selfridge), this deeply moving, wildly funny series follows three generations of a family with “separate but intersecting obsessions”. There’s Edie, a suicidal grandmother finding her feet in Australia after her daughter, Kate, flies her out from England to be with her and her teenage children. Then there are Kate’s two teenage children, one of whom, Oberon, is a young trans teen grappling with their own mental health.

The brains behind this intergenerational, semi-autobiographical story is Aussie screenwriter Samantha Strauss, best-known for the teen drama series Dance Academy. How did Strauss get from teen dance academy to sun-drenched, Australian retirement village? We caught up with her at a recent screening of The End to find out