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).

Seen the end of e2. Loved it

yes kitty sons being adopted by one of the group is a tad too far

tho If baby stayed local and she did then guess could happen

so none of the woman have their original husbands ?

hope rudy gets his hands rapped and loses his job for sexual abuse

love kitty’s voice. I said that in e1. Real raw power

Recap e2

https://reelmockery.com/riot-women-series-1-episode-2-recap/

I misread that at first as
hope rudy gets his hands rapped and loses his hands for sexual abuse
and was trying to decide if I thought that was a bit much or perfectly justified!

He’s a perve !

And thief

I think I have indicated previously that I am an adopter. I am a single adopter twice over. I live in the small market town where Riot Women was primarily filmed. Both of my adopted DDs, who are not birth related, are from the bigger town. My AD2 and I have ongoing direct contact with her birth mother, who still lives in her town of birth. My AD1(very nearly an adult) has never had any contact with her birth family. Our world is so small that I have walked past my AD1’s birth relatives in a supermarket. I know them (thanks to SM), they do not know me.

I thought adoption wasn’t meant to be local

Incase do bump into birth family

when I looked into it and went to the meetings I couldn’t go in Kent and had to go to Surrey

Nope, no rules about this. The courts now are encouraging ongoing direct contact. I see the benefits. We live exactly eight miles away from AD2’s birth mother. We know where she works. She knows where we live and where AD2 goes to school. We are respectful and so is she. We meet up several times a year, organised by social workers.

Guess that works well

what about the families who are made to give their babies up as unfit mums or abuse

cant be good for the child to possible bump into their birth parents under those circumstances

My AD2’s birth mother was made to give up her children by the courts. Adoption in the UK is very different to adoption in the US. There are vanishingly few ‘relinquished’ babies here. Each case should be considered on its own merits obviously. My AD2’s birth mother was herself the product of inter generational trauma, abuse and neglect. I consider her to be as much of a victim as my AD2. I obviously would not force contact if the circumstances and situation were traumatising for/to my AD2. As it happens, I see that ongoing direct contact is beneficial for her.

You sound a wonderful caring mum 💖

It puts me off that RW is marketed as (angry!? unhappy?) "menopausal women." i'd be fine about marketing it as story about "older women" or "middle aged women". Being defined front stage and centre by their biological stage of life is tedious at best. But I don't really like punk music so that's another hurdle.

I may remember to give RW a try sometime.

'But I don't really like punk music so that's another hurdle'

It s a bit of an odd label tbh, i've only seen 2 eps so unless they go all Sex Pistols with actual punk music it isn't really the correct genre. I'd call it soft rock ish at best from what I've seen.

Yes I haven’t heard anything remotely punk yet. They seem to be aiming at indie rock from the 90s.

Beth mentioned Punk music that’s her era and it was the total opposite to Abba! I don’t feel she wants them to jump about spitting at the audience. Just more to do with the attitude they had.

I'm really loving it, although there isn't much music at all so far. I've not listened to Hole before but Violet is now on my playlist.

I remember reading an interview with John Lydon once ( Johnny rotten ) or maybe when he went in the jungle and he said he loved Abba ! Always surprised me tbh !

Re the music genre- agree with indie rock. Also chick rock (Chrissie Hynde, Janis Joplin) & I mentioned Never the Bride previously. I liked her take on Waterloo Road. I am actually enjoying this for the music & idea of transferring their feelings into songs. I am looking forward to seeing what the final result is, music-wise.
It’s defo not punk.
BTW -I danced on stage with the Kinks at the Fillmore auditorium, that was when jumping on stage when bands were playing was a thing, those were the days!

Oh my Moanranger am well jel love the kinks so evocative of a time & place in my mind, be interesting to see what they do with the music Kitty does have a fabulous voice even liked the rendition of Waterloo which I’m not particularly a fan off, I’m also wondering if apart from the pervy thieving police officer Kitty’s dad will come in for some treatment from the women he has been mentioned a couple of times clearly a wrong un.

I'm still enjoying this. I thought Kitty finding the suicide note was very touching.
Also Tom ignoring the hint to take his mum out to lunch was realistic.

Yes. The note. The rope. The stool. The strands over the rail

tom is selfish

I have watched all of Riot Women and it is fantastic, anyone saying they don't think it is for them stick with it you won't be disappointed. I am hoping there is a second series

I'm loving it. The soundtrack is brilliant, the characters and the dialogue all so funny yet poignant too. it really is Happy Valley without psycho Tommy Lee Royce.

I started Happy Valley on a friend's recommendation but found it too dark. I loved the first series of Gentleman Jack.

I'm really enjoying it. Halfway through the second episode it briefly crossed my mind that there was maybe slightly too much going on, then I thought about the shit my friends and immediate family are dealing with at this stage of our lives, and realised...nope, we've all got at least one of those short straws.