Riot women! Inside Sally Wainwright’s joyous, raucous TV show about menopausal punks

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 flushesRiot 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 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. Continue reading...

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