How closely does Netflix’s One Day adapt David Nicholls’ book?

One Day is being reimagined for the small screen thanks to Netflix, bringing David Nicholls' classic rom-com story to a new audience.

The narrative follows Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall), who meet at their graduation party at Edinburgh University in 1988. Emma and Dexter immediately hit it off, and after a failed one night stand the pair continue their friendship with the story checking in on them on the anniversary of the day they met, every year for twenty years.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Netflix's One Day

Nicholls' book became a cultural phenomenon when it was released in 2009, and fans of the novel are no doubt curious to know how closely the new TV series sticks to the author's narrative. Here is everything you need to know, but be warned there are spoilers for the book and TV series in this article.

How closely does Netflix’s One Day adapt David Nicholls’ book?

Netflix's adaptation of One Day, like the novel, follows Emma and Dexter over two decades, with viewers seeing how their relationship develops over time and the highs and lows they go through both personally and professionally. For the most part, each episode of the series focuses on one year in their life like the book did, from 1988 to 2007, though the show's last two episodes examines three years apiece.

The show sees Emma and Dexter face the same hurdles they did in the book, with the pair living parallel lives after university where the former joins an acting trope before trying to make it as a writer, while the latter enjoys gallivanting across Europe where he teaches English and romances the locals.

Eventually Dexter ventures into the world of TV presenting, and in the same way as the book it leads to him delving into a world of parties and substance abuse, changing him as a person and ultimately driving a rift between him and Emma that sees them part ways in 1994.

For Emma, she is faced with a number of challenges as she struggles to make it as a writer while working full-time at a restaurant. She later turns her attention to teaching and embarks on a relationship with comedian Ian (Jonny Weldon) but she soon realises how unhappy she is in the relationship and breaks things off.

As Dexter's popularity in the TV world begins to wane he eventually leaves the profession when he realises no one wants to work with him — becoming a star of yesteryear, and realising his regrets over how things ended with Emma. The pair make amends at a friend's wedding where it's revealed Dexter is set to get married and have a child, while Emma is about to publish her first children's book.

All of this is the same as in Nicholls' novel, but what fans are likely most interested in is what happens towards the end of the show. Like the book, Emma and Dexter finally become a couple after he gets divorced and visits her in Paris in 1999.

The pair decide to try and give their relationship a shot after years of a will-they-won't-they romance, and for a time they are happy. However, like readers had with Nicholls' book, there is a shock in store for viewers when Emma is involved in a car crash in 2002. If fans of the book were hoping the series would change Emma's fate the answer is, sadly, it does not, and she dies as a result of the crash.

Read more: One Day's Ambika Mod reveals secret to her Yorkshire accent in Netflix show

One Day's finale, like the book, follows Dexter in the years after Emma's death and his struggle to come to terms with his grief. This culminates in him walking up Arthur's Seat with his daughter Jasmine in 2007, a walk he did with Emma the day after they met.

While the show mostly sticks to the same narrative as the book, though, it does have some small differences that are most noticeable in the finale. In Nicholls' book, readers get to depart from the usual format after Emma's death as the novel ends with a chapter revealing what happened the day after Emma and Dexter met.

Rather than end the TV series in the same way, this part of the story is included in the show's premiere episode and instead the finale lets viewers watch the couple during their first Christmas together in 1988. While it is only a small difference, and likely not the change readers are hoping for most, it is something.

But ultimately the Netflix series adapts Nicholls' book with impressive accuracy, and it will likely be a delight for fans both old and new.

One Day is available to stream now on Netflix.

Watch the trailer for One Day: