Netflix transports us back to 14th-century Italy in its new dark comedy The Decameron. Set in 1348, the eight-part limited series revolves around a group of Italian nobles and their servants as they flee the plague-infested streets of Florence, which is caught in the throes of the Black Death, for the luxurious, 'infection-free' countryside abode of Villa Santa. With the self-entitled snobs completely oblivious to the struggles of those beneath them, the group view the trip as they would a free holiday rather than a quarantine-for-your-life situation – but things quickly take a chaotic turn, and before long, the haven they envisaged turns into the stuff of nightmares.
The first character we meet is Pampinea (played by Girls' Zosia Mamet), who establishes the tone of the show when she interprets a grieving man carrying his dead wife as an act of romance rather than devastation. Read more: Derry Girls and Sex Education stars in Netflix's The Decameron first look Pampinea has dreams of marrying Leonardo, the villa's owner, after reaching spinster-hood at (gasp) 28 years old. Alongside her fiercely loyal servant Misia ( Derry Girls ' Saoirse-Monica Jackson), she decides to pursue her ambition.
Elsewhere, we have Filomena ( Eastenders' Jessica Plummer), who is as obliviously cruel as they come, taking pleasure in making the days of her servant Licisca ( Sex Education's Tanya Reynolds) a living nightmare. But when Licisca seizes an unexpected opportunity, the tables swiftly turn..