Riot Women binge thread for those using BBC iPlayer

[IwantToRetire]

As all episodes are available on iPlayer thought I would start a binge thread for any like me who find it easier to follow a story line when there isn't a gap of 7 days.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002hd7x/riot-women

It’s far fetched and too many coincidences, but it’s the best drama ive seen in a long time !

You really can't complain that older actresses have been overlooked in this series!

A mystery about this series is why Sue Johnston agreed to be in it when she says a total of ten words or so?

Jonathan Pryce!!!

I loved this. It really captured the menopause years I felt.

Anne Reid was phenomenal as a woman with dementia, and the lady playing Beth's mum also. I liked that they showed two different experiences with the disease. Anne Reid's dementia may not necessarily lead to Beth's mum's.

It was a bit close to home the way Anne Reid could one minute show lucidity and engagement and the next show confusion and fear. She reminded me of my dear mum.

I thought the actress playing Kitty was phenomenal.

One of the most hard hitting scenes was when Holly went to her ex husband to tell him about the sexual assault and he was all for doing something about it when it was a man, then all for doing a fat fuck all when it was just a woman.

The male characters were so accurately men!

Pretty much the only decent one was treated like shit.

Anne Reid is one of the best. It’s an old Daniel Craig film, but she was in a film called ‘ the mother ‘ worth checking out ! The dementia story is well done.
I did laugh at ‘ Jack the rimmer ‘ , he is gorgeous! What a body.! lol

I wanted Sue Johnston to say more as well! She didn’t have many lines to learn .

I thought Anne Reid was playing Ceila again, living in her bungalow up Elland I wondered when Alan would make a reappearance.

Maybe because I watched it while multitasking but I didn't pick up the senior police officer was Holly's ex husband until he was at the school and his sons called him Dad.

Would of been nice to have more backstory on Holly and her sister

Would of been nice to have more backstory on Holly and her sister

I agree. I find that relationship intriguing and why the sister keeps her distance from their mother.

Having finished it, I agree with a comment that there was too much going on, thought there were too many characters as well. It it was always watchable and the acting was generally great e.g Lorraine Ashbourne.

When Holly went to see her ex she mentioned ‘
your ex mother in law ‘ so I picked up on that that they were once married.
I wonder if he knows one of Kitty’s abusers ?
I liked the young drug dealer character.. I know he was a bit far fetched too., but at least he wasn’t miserable !

Yvonne was a pain I thought. I remember the actress being in Corrie.

Sally’s dramas are always full of characters and back stories. Tango was the same too.

There were a few characters that seemed to be shoehorned in for the inclusion and representation standards or something, without proper development of their story. I didn’t ‘get’ why the trans character had to be an ally to the women. Did SW write this character as a transwoman or was this a decision of the bbc casting department?

Binged over 3 nights and loved it. Plenty of emotional rollercoasters, lurched from tears to laughter multiple times. Jack the rimmer….classic. Can’t wait for the second season.

I do agree that so many dramas and soaps have to kind of do a ‘ tick box ‘ of different characters but I’m prepared to over look this here as it was so enjoyable and I found it gripping, but I do like the writers work and the characters say things and react to things you would in real life too. The ones dealing with their mums with dementia is very well written and observed.

It is very tick boxey but then I come to expect that from any BBC show of recent times.

I hope there’s another series.

It seemed to be set up for more. Sometimes the second series are not as good, but I do hope that Kitty gets some kind of revenge or closure for what happened to her and that Gerry dumps Jess , not that she isn’t that nice , but because of how her and her daughter treats him!

I felt this too. My initial reaction was why does that character need to be a young man larping as a woman? but then I thought, if it doesn't become all about him then I suppose it doesn't really matter. It is very cliched though.
I get more irritated when everyone is just so immediately accepting of everything. You find out your daughter, who has two children, is in a lesbian relationship and you don't even say, gosh, I never realised you were gay?
And two minutes of drunken chat immediately resolves a bitter falling out that has been festering for years.

I suppose that it occurred to Jess that the reason Inez did what she did was because her own ex was a sleazy one and she didn’t realize ( or overlooked it maybe)
It must be hard to suddenly realize you have been hoodwinked for years like she did and Tricia too ( although she just let it go for ages )

The ridiculously quick resolution to the Inez and Jess impasse story I also found irritating, I thought the back story was interesting and could have been explored better. I’d have preferred more conflict in general.

@the80sweregreat remind me please what Inez did?

I’m pretty terfy but honestly I don’t see an issue here. It’s Hebden Bridge so someone was going to be trans, and in everyday non-activist life transwomen are good people and bad people just like anyone else (unlike the awful TRAs feminists have to deal with) so why shouldn’t they be an ally?
As long as the story doesn’t become all about him (I’m only on Ep 3 so there’s still time).

Miranda was pretty much a background character until needed to fill the backing singer gap.

I remember when gay people started to appear in soaps and dramas, being gay always had to have a storyline! They could never just be there as people who happened to be gay.

So I'm happy that the character of Miranda was just there as a person who happened to be trans. If there's a second series and there's a specific trans storyline it'll be annoying for me because if Miranda does get a storyline I'd rather it was one anybody could have.

For me it’s the suggestion that if transwomen want to enter womens spaces, we are all expected to accept it without question so long as they’re on their best behaviour? And refer to them as her and go along with the idea that it would be discriminatory to behave otherwise. I wouldn’t accept a transwoman in my menopause rock band any more than I would accept one in my gynaecology ward, in my domestic violence support group or strip searching me in my police force? I don’t mind if the transwoman is the nicest kindest person because for me they are a member of a movement that perpetuates a dangerous ideology and me saying not my Nigel about my trans ally friend is to dismiss the genuine fears of every woman who has been raped or attacked by men and is expected to welcome them into their safe spaces? Disappointing.

I had more beef with the fact there were two young women who took the piss out of the whole thing in the band, albeit backing singers, than I did with Miranda being there.

It obviously doesn't matter that the backing singers aren't menopausal, so they could be anyone really.

Inez was propositioned by Jess‘s ex husband ( who, I assume , is also her daughter’s dad ) and she called him out on it in Jess’s packed pub.
She has also opened her own bar not too far from the pub and the first time we met Inez they were arguing about this. She is now in a relationship with Jess’s daughter too!