What is Mint on BBC One about? Female-centred storytelling in a gangster thriller makes this one of the freshest shows of the year

Mint has landed on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and the name doesn't necessarily scream what it might be about.

The eight-episode drama - each one 30 minutes long for the perfect easy binge-watch - is actually the amalgamation of romance and gangland crime thriller, or, Romeo and Juliet meets MobLand.

It's also a heck of a lot more than that. Mint is a visually stunning, female-centred take on forbidden love. It's an ode to three generations' love stories against a backdrop of criminal behaviour that avoids the usual gangland TV tropes.

Shannon (Emma Laird) is the 22-year-old daughter of a gangster. Bored, isolated and with very little going on in her life, she finds herself just waiting to fall in love.

Mint - Official Trailer - BBC - YouTube

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Shannon adores hearing the story of how her parents met, and her mother, Cat (Laura Fraser) has clearly pushed the message home to her daughter that she'll only be happy and worth something when she finds that elusive love.

"Find the spark!" Cat tells her daughter excitedly, an eager facilitator in her daughter's one and only mission in life.

Shannon's grandmother Ollie (Lindsay Duncan,) is far wearier when it comes to the ridiculous fairytale of relying on a man to be fulfilled, far preferring casual sex and adding the much-needed normalisation of sex being fun at any age into the mix.

"A good service is all women need, we don't need men for anything else," she tells an unwavering Shannon, who is determined to stick to the naivety of her dream of finding The One.

And then, there he is. At a gloomy train station, Shannon gets "the spark" (and they fly both literally and metaphorically,) with Arran (Loyle Carner). Except, they can't be together because it turns out Arran is from a rival gang and Shannon's father would never allow their union.

Charlotte Regan, who created, wrote and directed the series, explains just what the show is about and what she wants it to be.

"It's very much about the three women's love stories, whether that's romantic love stories or love stories amongst the family," Charlotte explains.

She adds that the backdrop of the series is the crime and tension of the gangs, but at the forefront is "Shannon falling in love with a boy called Arran who's part of the rival family."

"It's all about love stories, really. I love rom-coms, so I just wanted to make a gangster romance," she concludes.

Female stories and centred female pleasure are just some of the things that make this series so fresh in its unique take on the mixing of two popular genres.

The surreal situations the characters find themselves in are also incredibly compelling - armed police marching into Shannon's house while she masturbates is brushed off like an everyday annoyance: "Were you in REM sleep?" she asks her equally unbothered mum about the police brutally waking and dragging the family from their home.

This scene sits in contrast to her total naivety when it comes to love and relationships, scenes also amplified by the ethereal way moments between her and Arran are shot. Overall, this is one unique romantic crime thriller you won't be able to stop watching.

How to watch Mint from anywhere in the world

If you’re going to be away from your usual TV set-up when Mint starts airing, but don't want to wait a single moment to see this brilliant series, there's no need to worry.

You can still enjoy all eight episodes available, with the use of a Virtual Private Network - a VPN.

A VPN allows you to change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to the show, even if you're not there.

Our sister site, TechRadar, has tested all of the major VPN services and they rate Nord to be the absolute best.

They say, "It’s compatible with all of your devices, supports most streaming services, and ranks among the fastest. You can even install it on devices like an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox, and PlayStation. So for a one-stop-shop, you can’t go wrong with Nord."

Watch TV as if you were in the UK with a VPN. Offering a 30-day money-back guarantee, try out NordVPN, and stream from any device, including your mobile or tablet, laptop, TV, or gaming console. Also boasting some top-of-the-class security, it's a no-brainer. Run into any problems? NordVPN has an excellent customer support team on hand 24/7.

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If you've never installed a VPN before, don't worry, it's quick and easy. Just follow these three steps:

• Download and install the VPN following NordVPN's easy-to-follow instructions.
• Once you've installed your VPN, open the app and select your server location as anywhere in the UK.
• With your VPN installed and server location set to UK, you can now watch Mint on BBC iPlayer.