Lessons In Chemistry: The New Apple TV Series To Watch

Apple TV’s had some great star-studded releases this year, from the sci-fi anthology Extrapolations to the Jennifer Garner starring The Last Thing He Told Me. The streamer is continuing this trend with their newest drama miniseries Lessons in Chemistry. Led by Brie Larson, it follows a female scientist in the 1950s, who starts her own cooking show. It’s based on a novel by the same name and is set to arrive this October on Apple TV+.

What is Lessons in Chemistry about?

The Oscar-winning Larson plays Elizabeth Zott, an aspiring scientist. While she has ambitions to become a leading scientific figure in her field, the culture and society of the 50s mean she’s got an uphill battle. In the novel, she suffers from depressive traits from her often unfulfilling life. Living in a world that says women belong to the domestic sphere only, the young chemist soon finds herself fired from being a research scientist after becoming pregnant with a new child.

Now without a source of income and feeling both dejected and insecure about her future with her baby, Elizabeth is somewhat surprised when she’s offered to host a new TV show and quickly takes it. The new job, she realises, gives her the opportunity to teach chemistry as cooking, and give encouragement to other women around the country.

What else do we know?

The novel, written by American author Bonnie Garmus, was published last year, and quickly shot up bestseller lists and was featured on the BBC’s Between The Covers book club.

It was picked up and ordered as a TV adaptation by Apple before the novel was first released, with Larson both starring and executive producing.

Who else stars?

The cast also includes Lewis Pullman (Top Gun Maverick) as Calvin, Aja Naomi King (How to Get Away with Murder) as Harriet, Stephanie Koenig (The Flight Attendant) as Fran, Thomas Mann (Halloween Kills) as Boryweitz and Kevin Sussman (The Big Bang Theory) as Walter. It’s also produced by Jason Bateman.