Co-starring UK-based Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan (who created and starred in 2020’s semi-biographical comedyDuchess),comedian Johnny Vegas and Harrie Hayes (a longtimeHorrible Histories cast member),Romantic Getaway is a lot more cheerful thanAvoidance.It’s also a more straightforward comedy,albeit one wrapped up in a thriller-romcom.
The first episode throws us straight into a frantic heist situation – but rather than a flashy Hollywood-style caper,this one is happening at a mid-tier real-estate firm in regional Britain. Deacon (Ranganathan) and his wife Allison (Ryan) have been trying to have a baby,but have fertility issues – and a financial one.
After a miscarriage,the couple have been told their chances of conceiving a baby are slim,even through medical intervention,but they’re determined to try one final time. Trouble is,their one last shot means engaging the services of a high-end fertility clinic,and neither of their jobs – they both work at the aforementioned real-estate firm – pay very well.
Spurred into action by the unfairness of such fertility treatment being only an option for the wealthy,and the fact their sleazy property developer boss Alfie (Johnny Vegas) has been skimming money off the top of the company’s profits,they hatch a plan to steal £50,000 worth of bitcoin from Alfie. Surely,they reason,he won’t miss that amount. While Allison distracts everyone at the office with an over-booked meeting room,she’s able to get the password to the company’s accounts,while Deacon is at a nearby internet cafe armed with a USB stick.
All goes to plan – except that Deacon panics when he sees that the balance in the account is much more than he expected,and,outraged Alfie has told the couple he doesn’t have enough money to pay their bonuses,swiftly adds an extra zero to the amount he’s withdrawing.
He doesn’t,though,immediately tell Allison and the lies slowly begin to stack up;especially once Alfie reveals the company is being audited,and he needs Deacon to bring in his laptop for forensic inspection.