“Happy Valley,” “Gentleman Jack” and “Last Tango in Halifax” creator Sally Wainwright has lifted the lid on her latest project, a new series about a group of 50-something women who form a punk band.
Speaking at a special Masterclass at Series Mania in Lille, Wainwright discussed “Riot Women,” the upcoming six-part drama which was commissioned by the BBC and Britbox for the U.S.
The idea, she said, had come to her around 10 years ago, but she found herself too busy to work on it given the other series she had going on at the time.
“It’s personal,” she said of the story. “It’s about my life. It’s about the menopause, elderly parents that need your help, difficult children … my husband also decided to leave. But nobody wants to talk about the menopause, or it can be an energy drain.”
Wainwright added that she “wanted to write about feeling that I was changing or becoming a different kind of person.”
Shot last year and starring a who’s who of British TV talent, including Lorraine Ashbourne, Joanna Scanlan, Tamsin Greig, Rosalie Craig, and Amelia Bullmore, “Riot Women” has “extraordinary energy,” Wainwright asserted, but noted that it was “very dark” in moments. She also unveiled some of the band’s song titles, including “Shitting Pineapples” and “I’m so Depressed I Can’t Get Dressed.”
The acclaimed writer was joined on stage at the Series Mania Forum by her “Riot Women” producer Roanna Benn, co-head of the Mediawan-owned Drama Republic which behind shows such as Netflix’s hit adaptation of David Nicholls’ “One Day.”
Benn said that it wasn’t difficult to sell the show to the BBC as “everyone in the U.K. is desperate to work with Sally.” However, she noted that it would have been a different story if Wainwright hadn’t been involved.
“It’s a hard show to describe. It’s not a musical. It’s not just about middle aged women. But when people read the script they got it,” she said. “But if it wasn’t Sally I think it would have been a difficult sell in this climate, which is sad.”
Wainwright’s last show was the Disney+ period series “Renegade Nell,” which launched in early 2024 but was canceled after one season.
