In the dog days of the Covid era, a few culturally unifying moments arrived to provide some temporary relief from the relentlessly grim nature of the daily news. One of the most unlikely made its bow in summer 2021, when HBO once again demonstrated its happy knack of capturing the zeitgeist.

Having approached writer Mike White – who’d previously worked on the largely overlooked Enlightenment, starring Laura Dern, for the network – to see if he had any ideas that could be produced under Covid restrictions, the 51-year-old California native proposed a black comedy drama set entirely in one hotel.

In a world class example of making lemons from lemonade, White suggested the show be filmed in Hawaii – thus, by his own admission, securing an enjoyable trip for the cast and crew in addition to the show getting made. All of which, of course, wouldn’t have amounted to a hill of beans had not the resulting series been so sublimely written and performed.

Aiming to take the temperature of America between Trump presidencies and in the Covid doldrums, White devised a biting satire of the upper classes. The first season followed three sets of vacationers as they sought personal happiness and fulfilment in the titular resort, only for a dead body to show up and take proceedings – literally – in a more grave direction. As would prove the case in subsequent seasons, the first series allowed a galacticos-style assemblage of acting talent to strut their stuff.

Connie Britton was especially good as search engine CFO Nicole Mossbacher, who’s in a troubled relationship with husband Steve (Steve Zahn); so also True Detective’s Alexandria Daddario as angsty journalist – we know the feeling – Rachel, experiencing an equally fraught time with her property developer husband, Shane (Jake Lacy).

MORDANTLY WITTY

Undoubtedly, for her portrayal of Nicole and Steve’s sardonic daughter Olivia, special mention also had to go to Sydney Sweeney, who has emerged as one of the major stars of her generation thanks to her memorable performance in Euphoria – effectively Kids revamped for Gen Z – as well as her appearances in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and The Rolling Stones’ video for ‘Angry’.

Ultimately, though, the acting honours proved a two-way tie. A ’90s indie veteran renowned for his turns in the likes of Richard Linklater’s Suburbia and Steven Soderbergh’s Out Of Sight, Zahn delivered another career highlight as his namesake Steve. Struggling with health issues, further knocked for six when his father belatedly comes out of the closet (“Maybe he’s a bossy bottom,” suggests Olivia helpfully), Steve was a memorable study in middle-age despair.

Matching Zahn every step of the way, meanwhile, was Jennifer Coolidge as the troubled Tanya McQuoid, struggling with grief as she mourns her late mother. Delivering a bravura comedic turn underpinned with melancholy, Coolidge duly embarked on an absolute heater in her career, as she produced another vintage performance in season two of The White Lotus, while also excelling in Ryan Murphy’s cult hit The Watcher.

A critical and audience hit that won multiple Emmys, The White Lotus had shown Mike White to possess a satirical flair on a par with Succession creator Jesse Armstrong, as well as a gift for ensemble drama comparable to Paul Thomas Anderson or Robert Altman. As such, there was huge anticipation for the the second season when it arrived in 2022 – and White wasn’t found wanting.

This time relocating the action to a resort in Sicily, another raft of brilliant performances included outstanding turns from comedy maestro Tom Hollander, as wealthy gay British expat Quentin; Leo Woodall as Essex boor Jack, whom Quentin introduces as his “naughty nephew”; Sopranos star Michael Imperioli as sex addicted Hollywood producer Dominic; and Aubrey Plaza as mordantly witty lawyer Harper (sadly, Plaza was in the headlines over the new year period, following the tragic death of her husband, writer-director Jeff Baena).

However, the acting gold medal for season two went to veteran star F. Murray Abraham, who delivered a tour de force as Dominic’s womanising father, Bert Di Grasso. Lamenting the family history of infidelity, Bert delivered the immortal line that “Our Achilles’ heel is an Achilles’ cock.”

K-pop star Lalisa in The White Lotus

SUPER EXCITED

In addition to the delicious dialogue, The White Lotus also daringly tackles some heavyweight themes, including the polarisation of American society amidst the ongoing culture wars. Most powerfully, the show scathingly depicts the hollowness of the American upper classes, as they pay top dollar for carefully curated, soulless vacations. Never has the barbed Sex Pistols lyric “Cheap holidays in other people’s misery” been more apt – except these foreign excursions cost premium rate.

The White Lotus has also become a unicorn of 2020s culture: a non-IP creation that’s a major hit (even Euphoria was adapted from an Israeli series). Its success has also confirmed White’s status among Hollywood’s gilded elite of screenwriters. In between seasons, he has worked on the animated smashes Migration and Despicable Me 4, which boast combined box office grosses of a cool billion dollars.

All of which, naturally, means The White Lotus’ upcoming third season is among the most hotly anticipated TV series of the year. After much speculation – the running online gag being that, like the Olympics, cities should compete to host the series – the action will this time relocate to Thailand. Adopting an “if ain’t broke” attitude, there will again be three separate storylines. One focuses on a group of long-time friends (including a further True Detective alum, Michelle Monaghan) reuniting on a girls’ trip, and another centres on the warring Ratliff family.

But perhaps the most exciting segment of all stars Hot Press favourite Walton Goggins, of The Shield and Fallout fame, as Rick Hatchett, whose relationship with his much younger girlfriend, free spirit Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), inevitably hits the skids.

Such is HBO’s faith in the show, they have already said that – should White be of a mind to do it – they want a fourth season. For the time being, the writer has promised “a supersized White Lotus” this time out.

“It’s going to be longer, bigger, crazier,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t know what people will think, but I am super excited – so at least for my barometer, that’s a good thing.”

• The White Lotus starts on Sky Atlantic on February 17.