My Mad Fat Diary: Cringetastic!

Courtesy of Channel 4

With the last episode airing tonight, My Mad Fat Diary is sadly coming to the end of its second series. But for any of you who haven't watched it yet, it's not too late to catch up and become addicted like the rest of us.

Ask any woman if they kept a diary when they were a teenager and I can assure you 9 out of 10 would say yes. It is a natural part of being a young girl; writing about your problems, fantasising over boys, worrying about sexual experience, etc. We've all pined over that one hottie in school and had our girl drama, Rae Earl's diary entries are no different...well except that she is mad - literally.



The gang:Courtesy of Channel 4

Rae Earl, played by Sharon Rooney, is a 17-year-old girl living in Lincolnshire who has just left a psychiatric hospital where she has spent the last four months after attempting to commit suicide. Her best friend Chloe (Jodie Comer) has started hanging out with a 'cool' gang, consisting of members Izzy, Chop, Archie and Finn. Rae strives to become one of the gang, eventually winning them over with her lad-like behaviour and good music taste. Things start to look up for Rae, but not everything is funky dory. Each episode presents her daily struggles such as her inability to like herself and lack of body confidence as well as the constant boy drama.

The series is based on the real Rae Earl's diary entries which have been published into a book called My Mad Fat Teenage Diary. Whereas the real diary was based in the 80s, the television series is set in the 90s, an era which is very rarely shown in any other TV shows or films, making it stand out instantly. Just because it's the 90s, don't expect cheesy pop sensation 'The Spice Girls' to be belting out all the numbers. The soundtrack features some ultra classics from the 80s and 90s with the likes of Oasis, The Beastie Boys and Pulp. Anyone who grew up in the 90s will be re-living the days and loving it.

The main reason for the success of My Mad Fat Diary is how relatable the show is. Although the main actors in the show are relatively unknown and have little experience in the industry they bring a sense of realness to the characters. The audience can find themselves continuously willing the characters on. Also the stories told in each episode are incidents that happen to any teenager, whether a person is currently living through a similar situation or have done in the past, all can relate and re-live those memories.

On a whole, My Mad Fat Diary is a funny, cringey (well what diary wouldn't be?!), emotional and rude teenage show that anybody can relate to. We will miss having Rae and the gang on our screens every Monday night, but for now all we can do is hope that Rae and Finn rekindle their relationship in tonight's finale. There have been no announcements made of a third series as of yet, but fingers crossed there will be another hilarious, heart-warming series in the near future.



Finn: The Ultimate Slice; courtesy of Weheartit.com

Don't miss My Mad Fat Diary tonight on E4 at 10:00 pm
Or catch the premiere before anyone else on 4oD now