David Nicholls' beloved bestselling novel One Day has already been turned into a film starring Anne Hathaway.
Now Netflix bring the bittersweet romance to the small screen in a limited series partly filmed in Hertfordshire. It is available to watch on the streaming site from Thursday, February 8.
For those who have not read the book, One Day tells the story of Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew who, on 15th July 1988 — the night of their graduation — speak for the very first time.
The novel catches up with posh boy Dex and the sharp, quick-witted Em one year older, on the same day — St Swithin's Day — over the following 20 years.
While the movie crammed everything into 1 hour 40 minutes, the Netflix series expands the decades-spanning love story over 14 episodes.
Viewers will see Old Hatfield on screen in one episode of the series and Benington Lordship near Stevenage in another.
Playing Emma in the television series based on the worldwide bestseller is Ambika Mod, who grew up in Potters Bar. The White Locus star Leo Woodall plays Emma's friend Dexter.
Of the book, Ambika said: "I read it when it first came out, so I was 13 or 14. I absolutely loved it and I've been a big big fan of it for years and years and years.
To get to be in the series adaptation is really special. We have dedicated more time to the events of the book than a film would."
Co-star Leo added of the Netflix adaptation: "When putting a novel into a film you're going to come across some condensing.
"An 1 hr 45 is not enough time to really get all the detail that David [Nicholls, author of One Day] had written into it, so it was a very clever idea to do the series over 14 episodes."
Having made her major breakthrough in BBC comedy medical drama This Is Going To Hurt opposite Ben Whishaw, Ambika initially turned down the chance of playing Emma — the role made famous on the big screen by Anne Hathaway.
Ambika revealed in a Netflix Q&A: "This job came to me, as it came to most people, via tape. I actually turned it down again and again and again.
"This is Going to Hurt had just come out and I was quite overwhelmed by that experience. I think I was being a bit of a baby about it.
It's not hyperbole when I say that I literally woke up in the middle of the night, my eyes snapped open and I was like 'I've made a terrible mistake'.
"I called my agent the next morning and it was my last chance because they were doing recalls the next week. I learnt the Yorkshire accent in two days and sent the tape off."
Hollywood Oscar winner Anne Hathaway played Emma in the 2011 movie.
Ambika added: "I didn't really feel like I was stepping into Anne Hathaway's shoes.
"I was just playing this amazing character that David Nicholls created and doing my own version of her, and it was really fun."
As for her Yorkshire accent for Emma in the series, Ambika added: "I started working on it as soon as I was cast and I had an amazing dialect coach named Natalie.
"We were really militant about it because I wanted to get it right."
Ambika continued: "It's a really beloved story and I like that in our series we get to sort of modernise it in a way that it hasn't been before.
"Personally speaking, I think it's really important and really significant that a brown woman is playing Emma and I know that will mean a lot to a lot of people.
"When they were auditioning it was colourblind. They weren't looking for a particular race or ethnicity, they were just looking for the best person to play her, and I'm very lucky and very thankful that they thought that was me.
"Before we started filming, we talked about my race and my ethnicity and what that might mean for Emma.
"But it never really impeded or explicitly showed itself in the writing or in the series in any way because it's not a story about a young brown woman — it's a story about two people, Emma and Dexter, and their love, their friendship and their growing up."
Ambika, who also starred in I Hate Suzie Too alongside Billie Piper, comes from a comedy background.
"I always use my comedy or levity to take on any part," she said. "I think it's definitely my superpower when I go into auditions.
"Emma cracks a lot of jokes and she has a lot of one-liners. She's always trying to cut through the tension.
"In terms of her delivery she's quite deadpan and quite dry, and I'd say that's my style as well. So that felt quite easy to step into."
The One Day shoot saw cameras come to Hertfordshire for filming in Old Hatfield, and in the Old Palace at Hatfield House for one episode.
"One Day has a special place in my heart because I've loved the book since I was young and I love Emma," added Ambika.
"It was a really long, hard shoot and when I finished watching the series I was just really proud of us all.
"I never thought I'd be able to do a performance like that, so One Day is probably the thing I'm proudest of in terms of my performance and the things we had to do because I know how hard we worked on it."
As for the future, Ambika added: "I think a lot of people who watch me on telly might not know that I come from a comedy background because I've done quite serious parts at times.
"I'd love to do something a bit off-the-wall, a bit absurd, if that were to come my way.
"If not, I think I'll just maybe write something like that — something that's my sense of humour — and [laughs] then star in it, obviously."
One Day is available to watch on streaming site Netflix from Thursday, February 8.
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