Exciting news for fans of Sally Wainwright dramas: The Happy Valley writer has been working hard on a new project called Riot Women for BBC One and iPlayer, which is currently in production!
The show boasts an impressive cast (including Sherwood and Slow Horses stars) and is about a group of middle-aged women who create a makeshift punk-rock band to enter a talent competition.
Here's everything we know about the show so far:
Riot Women plot
Previously called 'Hot Flush', the new drama will follow a group of friends around the same age in Hebden Bridge who come together to create a punk-rock band and enter a talent contest "in writing their first original song, soon discover that they have a lot to say - and this is their way to say it." says the BBC.
Here's a snippet from the original 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 (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 - and threatens to tear everything apart."
Speaking to the Halifax Courier, Sally said: "They're angry and they're going to sing about being angry and being of a certain age and all the stuff that goes with being of a certain age and having to go through the menopause at the same time.
"They form a punk rock band to sing about what they're angry about."
In an interview with the BBC, Sally mentioned that she's "been wanting to write a series like this for a long time. It's a celebration of women of a certain age, and all the life-stuff they suddenly find themselves negotiating/dealing with. The show is also my own personal homage to Rock Follies of '77, and the feisty Little Ladies who woke me up to what I wanted to do with my life when I was 13."
Riot Women: BBC drama cast
The official casting for Riot Women has been announced, and in true Sally Wainwright TV show fashion, there's a high calibre of talent! Leading the cast and the band is:
•Joanna Scanlan (The Thick of It, Slow Horses, Big School, The Larkins, No Offence) as Beth
•Lorraine Ashbourne (Sherwood, After the Flood, Unforgotten, Alma's Not Normal) as Jess
•Tamsin Greig (Friday Night Dinner, Belgravia) as Holly
•Amelia Bullmore (Scott & Bailey, The Jetty, Happy Valley) as Yvonne
•Rosalie Craig (Moonflower Murders, Serpent Queen, London Road) as Kitty
Anne Reid (from Sanditon and The Sixth Commandment - who Wainwright has worked with previously on Last Tango in Halifax) will be playing Holly and Yvonne's mother, Nancy, whilst Sue Johnston (from Brookside, The Royle Family and Truelove) will be Jess’s Aunt Mary.
Also joining the cast are Doctor Who actor Peter Davison and Outnumbered actress Claire Skinner, as well as Angel Coulby (Merlin, Innocent), Taj Atwal (Line of Duty), Melanie La Barrie (&Juliet West End musical star), Chandeep Uppal (Holby City), Oliver Huntingdon (Sherwood, Happy Valley), Jonny Green (White Lines), Ellise Chappell (Yesterday), Macy Jacob Seelochan (Shadow and Bone), Tony Hirst (Hollyoaks), Shannon Lavelle (Hamlin), Amit Shah (Happy Valley), Rick Warden (Red Eye), Ben Batt (Domina), Natalia Tena (Harry Potter), **Kevin Doyle (**Happy Valley, Downton Abbey), Richard Fleeshman (The Sandman), Olwen May (A Very British Scandal) and Nicholas Gleaves (Bodyguard).
Executive Producer Roanna Benn said "In inimitable Sally-style, Hot Flush introduces us to brilliant and unforgettable characters; it is so funny, and simultaneously so full of drama, it will have you laughing and sitting on the edge of your seat. This is a show about the women who hold up modern Britain, their stories urgently need to be told, and who better than Sally Wainwright to do that."
When does Riot Women start on BBC?
There's currently no release date for Riot Women yet, but filming will take place in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, where Sally's drama Happy Valley (starring Sarah Lancashire) was also filmed.
Sally has also written and produced many other popular dramas including Last Tango in Halifax, Scott and Bailey, Gentleman Jack and Unforgiven (the latter three starring Surranne Jones) which are also set in Yorkshire, where she is from.
Arabella Horspool is a Commercial Content Writer for Yours at Bauer Media. She's a bookworm who is passionate about TV and film. She enjoys cooking, scrapbooking and spending time with her pet dogs, tortoise and chickens.