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From left to right: Ken, Phil, Tom, Marion and David

Truelove is a 2024 drama created by Charlie Covell and Iain Weatherby. Phil, Ken, Marion, David, Marion and Tom have been friends since they were teenagers. Now in their seventies, they make a drunken pact after the funeral of their mutual friend, Dennis, to help each other end their lives rather than have them face the prospect of a slow, painful death.

Provides examples of:

  • Act of True Love: Tom describes helping a loved one to die in order to spare them pain and suffering as an act of true love.
  • Beneath the Mask: Marion says that both David and Phil are the type to put up a front but that they both feel things very deeply. This proves to be a bit of Foreshadowing as David later makes a "Not So Different" Remark when he tries to convince Phil to come with him to Spain.
  • Cleanup Crew: Downplayed. Once Marion dies, Phil and Ken make sure to clean up after themselves and remove any evidence that they were in the house before going home.
  • Driven to Suicide: Tom initially tries to commit suicide on his own after learning about his terminal cancer diagnosis but fails.
  • Establishing Shot: A shot of the Prince of Wales bridge is used to show that David is heading for Wales after he fails to leave the country for Spain.
  • First-Episode Twist: Tom is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Phil and Tom agree to his request to help him die and do it out on his boat.
  • Floorfilling Song and Dance: One scene shows everyone at Dahlia's christening dancing the electric slide to "Candy" by Cameo, before the DJ switches the track to "She's Royal" by Tarrus Riley.
  • Gaslighting: David tricked Marion into thinking she had dementia through a combination of feeding her false information and getting her prescribed on a selection of drugs whose combined side-effects caused similar symptoms to dementia.
  • Gender-Blender Name: Phil's full name is Philippa but she never uses it.
  • The Hermit: At one point, Ken meets up with an old SAS pal who lives alone in a caravan in the middle of a forest.
  • Late Coming Out: Marion and Ken knew that Tom was gay, although whether he was actually out to them or if it was just an Open Secret between them is unclear. Phil only finds out after Tom's death.
  • Manipulative Bastard: David. He convinced Marion and their friends that Marion was terminally ill with dementia so that he could trick Phil and Ken into helping Marion end her life.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: Phil lets Nigel believe that she's having an affair with Ken rather than tell him the truth about her and Ken helping Tom and Marion to die.
  • My Local: The drinks after Dennis' funeral are at The True Lovers' Knot, so named after a local legend about two young lovers who entered into a Suicide Pact.
  • Shout-Out: Tom's boat is called the Dawn Treader.
    • "True Love" by Patsy Cline pops up a few times on the soundtrack.
    • "I've Been Loving You Too Long" by Otis Redding plays when Phil and Ken get their Relationship Upgrade.
  • Understanding Boyfriend: Nigel spent his and Phil's entire marriage keeping things ticking over at home so Phil could progress her career as a police officer, which had led to no small degree of smothered frustration on Nigel's part.
  • We Can Rule Together: Downplayed. David suggests to Phil that they both run away to Spain as fugitives rather than turning themselves in to the police.
  • We Will Have Euthanasia in the Future: David speculates that in a hundred years time, people will look back on the present day and regard our current society as cruel for allowing so many people to suffer needlessly through the prohibition of assisted dying. For David, this proves to be a case of Villain Has a Point.
  • You Must Be Cold: When Ken takes Phil out in a wheelchair for a cigarette, he puts his coat over her shoulders to keep her warm.

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