Offspring

Any Australian readers here will be aware of Offspring - the series on Channel 10 with the wonderful Asher Keddie playing Nina, a obstetrician who is funny, intelligent, a little insecure, with a fondness for decorative owls and a great wardrobe. The show is a little quirky and is peppered with fantasy interactions with her family and friends which are often humorous and a window to her soul.

When I was pregnant recently, I sometimes channeled how Nina dresses - my favourite outfit was a skinny leg pair of electric blue pants, a charcoal top, a long orange cardigan and tan knee high boots...trust me, it looked better than it sounds!

So tonight was the first episode in the new series, and I've just finished watching it.  I'm proud I made it through with a touch of melancholy and no tears!

Nina returns to work after having several months off maternity leave. Her partner (and the father of their daughter) died before she was born.  The show perfectly captured the sadness and almost surreality of losing someone, especially at a time which is meant to be joyful, of returning to work after maternity leave - trying to jump back into normal life, of feeling that your lost special person is both everywhere and nowhere at once.

A particularly touching moment on imagining seeing Patrick at work "And there you are, my special person, out there in the real world."

But to balance out the sad moments, there were some comedic gems, my favourite being Billie (Nina's sister) encouraging her to masturbate.

"And Nina, don't fake orgasm to yourself."