BBC’s Riot Women is the brand new Sally Wainwright drama you need on your radar

2. Lorraine Ashbourne, Rosalie Craig, Joanna Scanlan, Amelia Bullmore and Tamsin Greig

Credit: BBC

TV


BBC’s Riot Women is the brand new Sally Wainwright drama you need on your radar

By Amy Beecham

5 days ago

2 min read

A makeshift punk-rock band where the members are juggling complicated families, absent husbands and long-buried secrets? We can’t wait for Riot Women, the BBC series from Happy Valley writer Sally Wainwright. 


As TV lovers, we have a lot to thank Sally Wainwright for. As a multi-Bafta-winning writer, producer and director, she’s responsible for bringing shows including Happy Valley, Gentleman Jack, Last Tango In Halifax, Renegade Nell and Scott & Bailey to our screens, so it’s no wonder we get excited when we get a whiff of a brand new project from her brilliant creative mind.

Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long: coming to BBC One next year is Riot Women, a Wainwright-penned drama that explores the complicated lives of five women who form a makeshift punk-rock band to win a local talent competition, but soon find that they have more in common than they realise.

6. Tony Hirst, Macy-Jacob Seelochan, Lorraine Ashbourne, Brodie Nkome and Klae Speight

Credit: BBC

Here’s everything we know about the series so far. 

What is the plot of Riot Women?

According to the official synopsis, we dive headfirst into the world of five women who, along with two riotous backing singers, come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band to enter a local talent contest, but in writing their first original song, they soon discover that they have a lot to say – and this is their way to say it.

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 (set in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire) 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 that threatens to tear everything apart.

Rosalie Craig as Kitty in Riot Women

Credit: BBC

Who will star in Riot Women?

As we’ve come to expect from a Wainwright project, the casting is second to none. As the creator herself said of the series: “I think I am more excited about this than anything else I have ever written. Ever. Oh my god. We have five of the most fabulous actresses on the planet playing the Riot Women. It’s scarily exciting.”

Leading the cast and the Riot Women band are Joanna Scanlan (After Love) as Beth; Rosalie Craig (Moonflower Murders) as Kitty; Tamsin Greig (Sexy Beast) as Holly; Lorraine Ashbourne (Sherwood) as Jess; and Amelia Bullmore (The Buccaneers) as Yvonne.

Lorraine Ashbourne as Jess in Riot Women

Credit: BBC

Anne Reid (The Sixth Commandment) will play Nancy, Holly and Yvonne’s mother, with Sue Johnston (The Royle Family) as Jess’s aunt Mary. Peter Davison (Doctor Who), Claire Skinner (Outnumbered) and Angel Coulby (Merlin) round out the cast.

When will Riot Women be available to watch?

The series is currently filming in West Yorkshire and is set to premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK this year. 


Images: BBC

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