What comes after is a scene that resonated with scores of women, regardless of whether or not they had experienced a miscarriage. Instead of opting to go to hospital, or expressing a shred of discomfort, Claire decides to rejoin the meal and pretend like nothing has happened. In the meantime, Fleabag claims the miscarriage as her own in a bid to deflect attention from her sister, and endures a barrage of horrendous comments while Claire is given the space to process her pain.

While Fleabag was lauded for depicting an authentic and sadly rare representation of miscarriage, in a recent conversation between journalist and author Elizabeth Day and the creator, writer and star of the show, Phoebe Waller-Bridge on the podcast How to Fail, the friends revealed that the extraordinary scene was inspired by a very personal backstory.

“The reason I felt particularly, personally connected to it,” Day begins, “is because I had a phone call from you a few months before the screening saying, ‘I’m really sorry if I’ve done this, but I think I’ve taken a story of your miscarriage and put it in Fleabag.

“And the story of my miscarriage is that I started miscarrying at three months in a restaurant toilet, although it was over brunch and not over dinner. And I was actually incredibly honoured and so happy that you were taking that and using it and giving it a platform that was necessary.”

“And when I watched that scene, I felt really emotional, in all of the best ways, because that is a story that doesn’t get told enough. And I want to thank you for doing it.”