There was no escaping Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s
comedy this year. It transformed our porn habits, sent gin-in-a-tin sales soaring ... and then the Catholic church weighed in
‘It’ll pass,” Hot Priest told Fleabag after she declared her love for him in the show’s finale. We will never know if she got over him – its creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, recently said she has no idea where the character is now and has ruled out making another series. Meanwhile, the Fleabag phenomenon has intensified like a desperately needy crush (very Fleabag) since the show concluded in April.
Except that wasn’t quite it. This is partly down to Waller-Bridge herself, who has kept her “vulnerable rascal” on life support throughout the year: spring brought an Off-Broadway run of the original one-woman show, followed by 30 performances in
London this summer. Hopeful fans queuing for returns one Saturday were met by Waller-Bridge and her TV co-star Andrew Scott handing out cans of Marks & Spencer G&T, the “proper drink” their characters in the TV version share one night in church – a scene that led to a 24% sales spike the following week.