Love, Lies & Records, review: who knew registrars were so exciting?

What a day! Until watching the first episode of Kay Mellor’s Love, Lies & Records (BBC One), I imagined the average 12 hours in the life of a registrar merely involved a lot of paper-pushing and lukewarm tea, but I stand corrected: it seems that it’s all intrigue, deception and sex in cupboards with dishy colleagues. 

In the new drama from Kay Mellor, the writer of Band of Gold and, more recently, In the Club, Ashley Jensen – as a strong female lead rather than supporting actress – plays Kate Dickenson, a registrar at Leeds Town Hall, who’s having a dramatic day; one which begins with someone breaking into her house (it turns out to be her stepson, who’s lost his keys) and ends with her colleague James turning to her for support as he begins his transition into a woman. 

In between, there’s Kate’s promotion to superintendent registrar, suspicions about an immigration scam, the impromptu wedding of a new father to his terminally ill love, a dead body in the canal, dodgy texts, some even dodgier CCTV footage, scheming colleagues… yes, it’s a lot to take in but Mellor is a pro at all this. Her dramas are basically the televisual equivalent of a deliciously trashy real-life magazine with multiple far-fetched headlines that somehow suck you in. And I definitely mean that as a compliment. 

Of course, much of this was scene-setting for what’s to come – this is a six-parter, and there’s a lot of unravelling to be done. So far, we know that Kate is well-liked, warm and fun, but something of a rule-breaker. Her colleague Judy (Rebecca Front) is the exact opposite – and, frankly, a lot more like the stereotype of someone in this kind of job; we can well imagine her bleating “computer says no”.  

Passed up for a big promotion in favour of Kate, Judy’s now plotting her downfall, and it looks like this will be the main storyline – but by no means the only one. Love, Lies & Records is clearly going for the same tried and tested formula as Mellor’s other hits, in which personal and professional lives intertwine and multiple plots pop up, some of which are designed to tug at heartstrings and others which bring a bit of light comic relief to all the emotion. Mellor is clever when it comes to choosing the settings for her dramas, and a registry office, while boring on paper, encompasses all of life’s major milestones. The drama practically writes itself.