A drama chronicling the rise and fall of a London internet start-up during the dot-com boom.
Former DJ Mike (Justin Pierre) and his wife Luce (Claudia Harrison) launch ‘seethru’, an ambitious music website, at the height of early 2000s tech speculation. They assemble a small team of twenty-somethings: shy coder Reece (William Beck), cynical content manager Sophie (Amanda Ryan), tech geek Brandon (Iddo Goldberg), and aspiring designer Jake (David Walliams). Their initial business plan relies on financing from entrepreneur Joe Walsh, whose sudden death throws the company’s future into jeopardy. The serial follows the professional and personal entanglements of the staff as they struggle to keep the business afloat, with Mike departing the company early in the second season.
Airing just as the first dot-com bubble was bursting, Attachments was a sharply observed workplace drama for a new, uncertain era. Produced by World Productions, the serial distinguished itself from its contemporaries through a visual style that integrated on-screen emails and web browser graphics directly into the narrative. It captured the specific mix of casual attire, long hours, and high-stakes financial anxiety that defined the start-up culture of the period. The programme underwent a significant structural change for its second season, shifting from 50-minute episodes to a 30-minute, two-part format, which altered the rhythm of its storytelling. As a time capsule of a brief, chaotic moment in business and technology, the series remains an unusually prescient piece of television.
Broadcast: BBC Two – World Productions, 26 Episodes, 26 September 2000 – 24 February 2002
Created by: Tony Basgallop
Executive Producer: Tony Garnett
Producer: Simon Heath
Main Cast: Claudia Harrison (Luce Harrison), Justin Pierre (Mike), Amanda Ryan (Sophie Moore), David Walliams (Jake Plaskow), Iddo Goldberg (Brandon Dyer), William Beck (Reece Wilson), Sally Rodgers (Yvonne Harper)
