Rain Dogs is a British comedy-drama series created, written, and executive produced by Cash Carraway for BBC One and HBO. It premiered on HBO on 6 March 2023 and stars Daisy May Cooper, Jack Farthing, Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo and Fleur Tashjian. The series has received critical acclaim, with particular praise for the writing and performances of its cast.
Synopsis
An unconventional love story between a working-class single mother, her young daughter, and a privileged gay man.
Cast
Episodes
Production
Rain Dogs is executive produced by Cash Carraway, Lee Morris, Sally Woodward Gentle, and Jo McLellan for BBC One. The series is directed by Richard Laxton and Jennifer Perrott.
Music
Rain Dogs has a soundtrack of power pop and alternative rock classics chosen by the show’s creator Cash Carraway.
Some of the songs featured on the show include Nick Lowe’s “Cruel to Be Kind”, The Replacements “Little Mascara”, Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”, Caroline Rose’s “Soul No. 5”, and Justin Townes Earle’s “Baby’s Got A Bad Idea”
Episode 1 takes its name from Bruce Springsteen’s “It’s Hard To Be A Saint in the City” and Episode 7 from The Smiths “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby”.
The lead character Costello Jones is named after Elvis Costello and all of the supporting male roles are named after members of the English rock band Suede.
Showrunner Cash Carraway was originally going to call the series All Shook Down after an album by The Replacements but later changed it to Rain Dogs after Tom Waits’ booze-soaked record about “people who sleep in doorways”
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Rain Dogs holds an approval rating of 96% based on 24 reviews.
On Metacritic, it has a weighted average rating of 88 out of 100 based on 13 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim" Metacritic ranked Rain Dogs as the number one critically acclaimed new show in the United States for the first half of 2023.
Critical reception
Dan Einav in The Financial Times said that it “plays as both a bruising tragedy…and as an obscene, gallows humour comedy.” Alan Sepinwell in Rolling Stone described it as “fascinating, poignant, and at times darkly funny”. Sean O'Grady gave it five stars in The Independent and hailed it as " a fine memento of our troubled times." Craig Mathieson of the Sydney Morning Herald awarded it five stars, calling the show "staggering".
Accolades
Gotham Independent Film Awards 2023 - Breakthrough Series – Under 40 minutes (nomination)