RIOT WOMAN - sun bbc 1 9pm - TV PACE NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

New drama for 6w which sounds like it will be a right laugh with singing music pmt drink drugs and rock and roll !!

every Sunday for 6w

The Happy Valley creator has turned her darkest hour into a rebellious tale of midlife women uniting in musical anarchy. The team behind the highly awaited drama talk vodka, rock’n’roll and hot flushes

Riot Women, Sally Wainwright’s hotly awaited new drama, will be billed as a menopause show, and that’s fine – a show can be proud of such a shorthand in 2025, and besides, there’s a lot of menopause in it.

Lorraine Ashbourne stars as Jess, a smart-mouthed pub landlady, leading her best life (house full of grown kids and grandkids, a boyfriend who does literally everything she says. “I have, in Jerry, written a weak man,” says Wainwright, contemplatively, as if it’s the first time that’s ever happened. “But he’s very likable”).

Nonetheless, Jess is overwhelmed – like all of us – by the state of the world, and decides to start a rock band for a refugee fundraiser.

She needs bandmates, naturally, so enter Tamsin Greig as Holly, a retiring police officer

Joanna Scanlan as Beth, a ground-down teacher and

Amelia Bullmore (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/amelia-bullmore) as Yvonne, a midwife with a stick up her arse.

They’re joined by Rosalie Craig as Kitty, a very hard-living shoplifter, significantly younger than the others

– she’s late 30s/early 40s in this role, the others are all mid-to-late 50s – but also menopausal.

Her USP is incredible charisma and a stunning voice, belted out at pub karaoke with vivacious rage, when she isn’t drinking neat vodka straight from the bottle or vandalising cars.

Riot Women, the band, come together at once – the show starts off with the energy of a one-last-heist drama.

They’re planning to do an Abba cover, until Beth rebels. She’s absolutely done with being nice. She’s been a competent pianist, accompanying school choirs all her life; she wants their music to express what they’re actually feeling. The songs they end up with – composed for the show by indie-punk two-piece ARXX – land in the bit of the Venn diagram where punk meets the menopause: an absolutely uncompromising “fuck you”.

Across the six episodes, we're set to see how their journey to punk-rock stardom goes from penning their first original song to discovering that they've got a hell of a lot to say.

As per the series synopsis: "As they juggle demanding jobs, grown-up children, complicated parents, husbands who’ve buggered off, and disastrous dates and relationships, the band becomes a catalyst for change in their lives, and it’s going to make them question everything

The six-part series is a testament to the power of friendship, music, and the resilience of women who refuse to be silenced by age or expectation.

"As the story progresses, it’s more than music that binds them; a deeply potent, long-buried secret begins to surface – one that unexpectedly entangles Kitty and Beth, the two unlikely creative masterminds behind the band, in a complex triangle – and threatens to tear everything apart."

The series boasts a batch of familiar faces including Lorraine Ashbourne (Sherwood (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/sherwood-season-3-renewed-newsupdate/)), Amelia Bullmore (The Buccaneers), Rosalie Craig (Moonflower Murders (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/magpie-murders-season-2-release/)) and Tamsin Greig (Friday Night Dinner), as well as Joanna Scanlan (After Love), Taj Atwal (Line of Duty), Chandeep Uppal (Holby City) and Macy-Jacob Seelochan (Shadow and Bone).

Further casting includes Anne Reid (The Sixth Commandment), Sue Johnston (The Royle Family), Peter Davison (Doctor Who), Claire Skinner (Outnumbered), Angel Coulby (Merlin), Jonny Green (White Lines) and Ellise Chappell (Yesterday).

Tony Hirst (Hollyoaks), Shannon Lavelle (The Hardacres), Mark Bazeley (Broadchurch), Amit Shah (Happy Valley), Rick Warden (Red Eye), Ben Batt (Domina) and Natalia Tena (Harry Potter) also star.

Completing the cast are Melanie La Barrie (& Juliet), Oliver Huntingdon (Sherwood), Richard Fleeshman (The Sandman), Olwen May (A Very British Scandal), Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey), Nicholas Gleaves (Bodyguard) and Thomas Flynn (Masters of the Air).

I liked that episode a lot more, I really enjoyed the way Beth and Kitty have become good friends.

All the men are a waste of space (at best).

It's funny the different tone between this thread and the <whispers> binge thread.

Sorry, blondes, I have been bored and a bit down in the dumps so I watched it all. It's really moving.

I warmed to Tom. That actor is really good ats showing trauma, damage and confusion.

Joanna Scanlan is brilliant.

Lots of Sally Wainwright's old chums turn up in various roles!

With reference to your second paragraph I could not agree more!
We are turning ourselves into victims and giving society a 'stick to beat us with'

I found it the opposite. Rather than poor us they are demonstrating there is life and fun after a certain age and not to fester and become a shadow of our former selves.

'pmsl naked man. Wanna lick my bum'

That scene was utterly cringeworthy. I wondered if it was a trans man initially going from his very smooth and curvy backside but wasn't expecting that .

I’m glad it’s getting better, I did find last nights less frantic pace more enjoyable although Jess is slightly getting on my nerves with the continuing ranting about Inez & don’t think Jerry deserved his treatment (may have missed something re;his behaviour) Tom & his wife irritated me seems as though they are very dismissive of Beth currently appear quite underhand & just not very nice.

Yes it was strange

agree about the pub landlady being moany

@Piggywaspushed why is the tone different on the bingers

if not giving away e 456

It was funny

Just more negative about casting etc. Binge threads often attract people with gripes...

I like Jess she goes on a bit but she's funny and kind too, giving Kitty a chance.

I wish we had more stuff on like this, most of the cast are all brilliant.

Ah

i never read them as usually comments are 5/6w old by the time we seen them all

I may go and read once see e6

i love this programme . Can relate to the ladies and a great cast

That was odd what was that all about the naked man on all fours...

The Kitty character is getting too much air time rather see bit more of the others...it is improving I'd say as I wasn't overly keen after the first episode but have stuck with it...

I've just watched Sparkhouse again and there was a familiar scene.

[Picture incoming]

Must be so therapeutic to whack a car

I had forgotten that scene! Maybe a fantasy of Sally Wainwright.

It must be very satisfying.

Definitely!

Remember the hilarious scene in Fawlty Towers where Basil attacks his car with a tree branch, yelling abuse!

I’d be so annoyed and baying for blood if anyone did anything to my car! There is a Taylor swift music video where she smashes up a nice car. It’s carnage and I just hate seeing things destroyed like that. The man in this probably deserved it , but still I hate seeing it happen.

The fawlty towers car smashing is funny though despite my post below. Still did some damage to it
of course !

I often wonder about that, do they actually damage decent cars or is there a stock of perfect looking but unusable cars kept for filming such scenes.

I hate unnecessary destruction. These planet fans, whoever they were, breaking bank windows and stuff. They were not helping the planet by having all that broken glass needing disposed of and new made. And the rest of the resources needed for replacing windows. Thoughless pricks.

A new weatherspoons pub opened in a town near to me and someone caused 9k’s worth of damage overnight.
So much destruction and for what purpose?

‘I often wonder about that, do they actually damage decent cars or is there a stock of perfect looking but unusable cars kept for filming such scenes.‘

I doubt anyone keeps a stock! But I also very much doubt they would waste a good car on it. I have a friend who is a tv props person and based on the way he spends his time, I imagine they would be ringing around local scrapyards in that situation seeing if anyone can do them a car that looks ok but doesn’t have to go anywhere.

Thank you @TheCountessofFitzdotterel , that makes sense.

@the80sweregreat is it Weatherspoons whose owner gets some people's backs up? Not that that's any excuse at all for such pointless vandalism that will be more of an inconvenience to his staff than him but that might have been their 'reasoning'. I don't know. It's bloody awful, so needless.