Just in time for Valentine’s Day, One Day is making its orbit back to the screen.

The Netflix limited series tells the decades-spanning love story of protagonists Dex and Em as they reunite on the same day every year. The novel was adapted into the 2011 feature film starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, and is now a 14-episode British series. 

While you fall for One Day, here’s everything you need to know about the series.

What’s One Day about?

It’s July 15, 1988, graduation night for Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. Although uni’s coming to an end, the two students speak for the very first time that day and go their separate ways the following morning. Where will they be on this one ordinary day the next year, and the year after that, and every year that follows? Each episode finds Dex and Em one year older on this one particular date as they grow and change, move together and apart, and experience joy and heartbreak.  

“It’s so epic in terms of the span of years, but also it’s so intimate in terms of the relationship,” the series’ lead director and associate producer Molly Manners tells Tudum. In One Day, she always wanted viewers to feel close to Em and Dex. The drama traverses the realms of memories, dreams, what-ifs, and what-might-have-beens. So the ethereal, nostalgic quality of their relationship is intentional. “There’s these tiny moments that you didn’t think were important, but then it turns out they really were,” she says.

Get Tickets

Is One Day based on a book?

Yes! The series is based on David Nicholls’ worldwide bestselling novel of the same name. Nicholls — who’s an executive producer on One Day — and series’ lead writer and creator, Nicole Taylor, agreed with Manners that the show should feel intimate to the viewer. “You’re never just observing two people,” says Manners. “You’re literally there feeling it, like you’re in that bedroom with them.”

To highlight their bond, Manners created a special visual language for the two of them. “I wanted it to feel like they were held together by an invisible string, something that the audience would feel but not see,” she says. “Even when they weren’t together." She captures their yearning and longing by reserving this language for them only, it's not shared with anyone else in the series. As a viewer, “you get to see the look [from Em] that Dex didn’t see, but you so want him to know that Em looked at him like that.” She and director of photography Nick Cooke would film matching shots for their actions — like in Episode 2 when Emma’s in Wolverhampton and Dex is in Rome. So even though they’re not together, you feel that they’re missing each other because they’re running through the same motions. 

Where can I watch the One Day trailer?

How does someone go from being a total stranger to the most important person in your life? Let your heart flutter away with the trailer above.

Who’s in the One Day cast?

One Day stars Ambika Mod as Emma and Leo Woodall as Dex, Essie Davis, as well as Tim McInnerny, Amber Grappy, Jonny Weldon, Eleanor Tomlinson, Joely Richardson, and Toby Stephens. Learn more about the One Day cast and the characters they play below.

Matthew Towers/Netflix

---

Ambika Mod

as Emma

About the Character

Emma is a studious English major who wants to change her tiny corner of the world. She has no idea what she’s in for when she bumps into Dex on the college green.

 

Manners thinks that just calling Em a “romantic lead” doesn’t do the role justice. She’s a funny, intelligent, guarded woman who uses humor as a defense mechanism. She’s super bright but also quite under-confident in relationships. She questions everything. “I saw a lot of myself in Emma. Nicole did as well. So many people who read the book did,” says Manners. And Mod felt just so naturally Emma. “She has so much depth, but also she’s so funny,” says the director. “My God, through the process, we felt it all the way.”

 

After Em and Dex were cast, Manners would have background call exercises with Mod and Woodall. They would improvise informal conversations with Manners while in character, discussing backstory and playing around with the topics, areas, and the different years of the series. Instead of rehearsing with the show’s material, the exercises would help the actors get used to being in the headspace of the characters.

Previously In

A gifted comedian, Ambika Mod earned acclaim and a Royal Television Society Award for her breakout performance in the limited series This Is Going to Hurt. She is also known for her work in I Hate Suzie Too.

Follow Ambika Mod

---

Ludovic Robert/Netflix

---

Leo Woodall

as Dex

About the Character

At uni, Dex is known as a playboy who comes from money and privilege. He’s got good looks and charisma — and he knows it. But meeting Emma on the night of their graduation changes the course of their lives forever.

 

Woodall’s audition was the first casting tape Manners watched. The team was moved by how natural Woodall was. “We were taken with him from the start, but you want to do the due diligence,” she says. They wanted Dexter’s privilege to come across as quiet and a little bit understated. He had a sense of entitlement but wasn’t just a “posh toff.” 

 

At the time, Woodall was filming his Essex boy breakout performance in The White Lotus, “so we needed to work on the accent a bit,” says Manners.

Previously In

Leo Woodall is best known for his scene-stealing role in Season 2 of The White Lotus, for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the show’s ensemble. He’s also known for Citadel, Vampire Academy, Cherry, and Holby City.

Follow Leo Woodall

---

Essie Davis as Alison (right) in One Day.

Matthew Towers/Netflix

---

Essie Davis

as Alison

About the Character

Dex’s mum wants her son to find his purpose in life and is glad he has a friend like Emma.

Previously In

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears, The Babadook, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, The Slap, The White Princess

Watch them on Netflix

Watch

My List

Follow Essie Davis

---

Tim McInnerny

as Stephen

About the Character

Dex’s dad wants to see his son rise to his potential.

Previously In

Notting Hill, Blackadder, Severance, Stromboli, The Serpent, White Dragon

Watch them on Netflix

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

---

Amber Grappy as Tilly (right) in One Day.

---

Amber Grappy

as Tilly

About the Character

Tilly has been Emma’s closest friend since meeting during their first year at the University of Edinburgh — before Emma and Dex get to know one another, anyway.

Previously In

Smothered, Wreck, The Baby

Follow Amber Grappy

---

Matthew Towers/Netflix

---

Jonny Weldon

as Ian

About the Character

Ian is an aspiring stand-up comic. He and Emma meet while working together at a Mexican restaurant in London.

Previously In

The Holden Girls: Mandy & Myrtle, Figg & Dates, The Outlaws, Sneakerhead, Stath Lets Flats, House of the Dragon

Follow Jonny Weldon

---

Eleanor Tomlinson as Sylvie (right) in One Day.

Matthew Towers/Netflix

---

Eleanor Tomlinson

as Sylvie

About the Character

Sylvie is Dex’s most serious girlfriend as an adult. He really wants to impress her aristocratic (read: snooty) family.

Previously In

Poldark, The Couple Next Door, Love Wedding Repeat, The Outlaws, The White Queen, and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging

Watch them on Netflix

Watch

My List

Follow Eleanor Tomlinson

---

Matthew Towers/Netflix

---

Joely Richardson

as Helen

About the Character

Sylvie’s mum, like the rest of her family, has a very competitive nature.

Previously In

101 Dalmatians, Nip/Tuck, The Sandman, Lady Chatterley, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Endless Love

Watch them on Netflix

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

Follow Joely Richardson

---

Toby Stephens as Lionel (right) in One Day.

Matthew Towers/Netflix

---

Toby Stephens

as Lionel

About the Character

Sylvie’s dad comes from very old money — and old ideals.

Previously In

Jane Eyre, Die Another Day, Lost in Space, 13 Hours, Black Sails, Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Watch them on Netflix

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

---

Where can I see first-look photos of One Day?

Meet Mod as Emma and Woodall as Dex in these first-look photos of the series, above. 

Is there a One Day blooper reel?

Yes! What’s a love story without sharing a laugh? Watch all of Mod and Woodall’s on-set giggles while filming One Day below:

Where was One Day filmed?

One Day not only spans the years of Em and Dex’s relationship, but also the many places they travel to, both together and apart. With every location in the UK and beyond, the goal was to always make you see the place through Em and Dex’s eyes, rather than a more touristy view of the landmarks. The series starts and ends in Edinburgh, Scotland, so filming on location was important to the production. “It gives that stamp of time and place in the beginning and [the city’s] so woven into the book,” says Manners. Em and Dex first meet at the University of Edinburgh’s Old College at their grad night party. One Day filmed on campus as well as on real streets.

Ludovic Robert/Netflix

Where do Dex and Em kiss in Edinburgh the day after graduation?

In an Episode 14 flashback scene, we see Em and Dex share a  romantic kiss in front of Edinburgh Castle. The location where the couple lock lips before going their separate ways is the Vennel Steps — a favorite spot among tourists known for its incredible views of the castle. The memorable moment was always going to be shot in the ancient alleyway — it was in the script. “They always wanted Edinburgh Castle in the background,” says Manners.

Did they really hike up Arthur’s Seat in One Day?

Yes, production hiked all the way up to the top of dormant volcano Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park. “Arthur’s Seat is just so cinematic,” says Manners. The creative team wanted viewers to feel like they were looking out at the city with Em and Dex, with their futures lying ahead. “Even though it’s specific, it feels quite universal,” says Manners. The Arthur’s Seat scenes were filmed during the summer season, but production made sure not to film during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival when tourism in the city is at its height. They mostly filmed the scenes early in the morning to avoid hikers, but Emma’s speech in Episode 14 was captured near the end of the day, just off to one side. “The low evening sun was just shining behind her, we were so lucky,” says Manners. Sometimes Woodall would be filming scenes on the mountain as Dex at 22 and at 40 in one day, and the wind and dust wouldn’t always cooperate with his makeup and latex wrinkle lines, making him look like he was 80. “But you can do so much in post!” says Manners with a laugh.

The series filmed all over the UK, from Hatfield House in Hertfordshire (which was also a filming location for Queen Charlotte) to The Savoy hotel, King’s Cross station, and Primrose Hill in London. Em and Dex’s picnic at the beloved Camden Town park in Episode 3 was actually the series’ first day of filming, and a scene that Mod and Woodall had rehearsed many times during the audition process. With the beautiful golden hour light, the stunning backdrop perfectly juxtaposed Emma’s disappointment in her lackluster London life. “It really helps bring home how important Dexter is in making her feel like she belongs to something in the city,” says Manners.

One Day also jetted off to Rome for Dex’s postgrad Euro trip in Episode 2; the island of Paros for Dex and Em’s Grecian holiday in Episode 4; and Paris in Episode 12. Manners knew that One Day’s Rome in Episode 2 needed to feel really colorful, vibrant, and different to Emma’s thespian escapades in Wolverhampton. “We wanted to get this real sense of place and scale, but not to be in any way obvious or clichéd in terms of the places that we went.” (You won’t glimpse the Spanish Steps or the Coliseum.) To accurately depict the kind of lodging a student might rent in the city, they checked out real people’s apartments. One house they visited actually was rumored to have once been famous Italian director Federico Fellini’s apartment. “Going to Rome was an absolute highlight for me,” says Manners. “It was very, very hot and we ate a lot of gelatos.”

Where can I listen to the One Day soundtrack?

You can listen to the full Em and Dex playlist, featuring classics like “Iceblink Luck” by the Cocteau Twins, “Falling Colour” by Vanbur, “Waterloo Sunset” by The Kinks, and more, here.

In addition to “Falling Colour,” One Day uses quite a lot of music from Vanbur’s albums, including “In Cold Light,” “My Dove, To Sleep,” and “Last Look.” As Manners and her editor Mike Jones worked on cutting her episodes (Episodes 1, 2, 3, and 14), they would put temporary music in to get a feel for what would sound right. But as soon as they put Vanbur on, “We were like, oh my God!” she says. Mod, who came and visited the edit bay, became completely obsessed with Vanbur. “It’s just full goose bumps from start to finish,” says Manners.

Who is the creative team behind One Day?

Nicholls serves as executive producer of the series (from production company Drama Republic) alongside Roanna Benn, Jude Liknaitzky, and Taylor. Nige Watson is a series producer for One Day. Manners is lead director and associate producer. Kate Hewitt, John Hardwick, and Luke Snellin also directed episodes. Taylor is the show’s lead writer, with Anna Jordan, Vinay Patel, and Bijan Sheibani.

How many episodes of One Day are there?

There are 14 episodes in One Day, each running between 20 and 40 minutes in length. Every chapter in Nicholls’ novel depicts a year, and Taylor and the creative team felt that a series could most faithfully reflect the time jumps by also making each episode a year. “The episodes naturally echo the chapters,” says Manners, who also appreciated the freedom of filming episodes of varying lengths, rather than feeling constricted by defined episodic timings. “So if it was a conversation, it would be a conversation,” she says. “Or if it was a whole day, it would be a whole day.”

Every episode takes place on July 15, so you don’t always see the big events in Em and Dex’s lives that happen during the rest of the year. “It was very bold to play a lot of the drama and the action off-screen,” Manners says in praise of Taylor’s vision. Each episode also makes you question where Em and Dex are in their relationship that constantly shifts between lovers and friends and back again. “It’s so beautiful because it always places you with them and their reactions. Why do they feel like this? Why are we here after a year? What are their feelings and why?”

The series’ incremental nature allows viewers to watch Em and Dex grow up into who they were meant to become. “I was really blown away seeing how the cast was able to mature and inhabit their older selves — literally the way they would hold their bodies and their delivery [of lines],” says Manners. As she shot the beginning and the end of the series, Manners worked with Mod and Woodall to establish the end point for their characters’ growth at the start, so there was space for their journey in between that other directors could explore. “For Emma, it’s about confidence, isn’t it? For Dexter, it’s like being brought down to Earth. He has some hard knocks.”

What’s the One Day release date?

One Day premieres Feb. 8 on Netflix.