Sally Wainwright on Her New BBC Series Riot Women
In a brand new drama series set and filmed in Hebden Bridge, five menopausal women form a punk rock band
The BBC’s Riot Women follows five very different characters – a teacher, a police officer, a pub landlady, a midwife, and a shoplifting freeloader – who form a punk rock band to take part in a local talent contest. Only as they become closer do two of them discover a heartbreaking connection.
Sally reveals that this series has actually been a decade in the making. ‘I certainly started to think about it about 10 years ago,’ she says. ‘I couldn’t really develop it then because I had so much other stuff going on like Last Tango [in Halifax], Happy Valley, and Gentleman Jack. So it’s kind of been brewing in my mind for about 10 years.’ At that time Sally was in her 50s and had started to experience menopause symptoms. The key characters in this series are at a similar point in their lives. ‘It’s not just about menopause though,’ explains Sally, ‘it’s about the things that come as a 50- to 55-year-old woman – the kind of life things you just have to deal with, that come to get you, that you didn’t really see coming.’
Many series have focused on this topic, but nobody has previously combined that with the idea of forming a punk rock band. ‘What it allowed me to do was talk about a subject that might be a bit of downer for some people, with something quite uplifting,’ Sally says. ‘It was about finding an exciting and interesting way of talking about the menopause, and talking about that period of life, without it being a drag.’ Sally describes the concept as a ‘slightly outlandish thing’. ‘But it’s all done for a good reason – to enter a silly talent contest to raise money for charity.’
Beth (played by Joanna Scanlan) is one of the masterminds behind the band and the series begins with her story. ‘I suppose Beth’s a bit autobiographical for me,’ Sally admits. ‘I feel like I was writing a lot about myself when I created Beth. She’s someone who’s found herself in quite a dark place and doesn’t quite know how she got there because she thought life was okay and then suddenly, she found it wasn’t. That’s kind of like what happened to me, and it was very much to do with the menopause and the things that come to get you. She feels deserted and very alone in the world – I definitely could relate to that. When you get very low like that you don’t even want to tell your friends because you don’t want to “trouble” them with your problems. It can feel very lonely. My starting point was with Beth and her journey and how she gets herself out of that.’
‘It’s about friendship and creativity as a positive power in these women’s lives’
The backbone of the show is Beth’s relationship with Kitty (played by Rosalie Craig). ‘They couldn’t be more different,’ says Sally. ‘In no other circumstances would they have become friends other than the very unlikely way they happen to meet one another. Then they find out they’ve got a much deeper connection that neither of them could’ve known about when they first met. I don’t know where Kitty came from actually but I think she’s an amazing character; I’m very proud of her. She’s quite an unusual character with a huge, dark story.’
This dark story runs throughout the six-part series, but Sally’s signature style means it remains uplifting and humorous throughout. ‘What for me is uplifting is that Beth and Kitty absolutely bring out the best in each other,’ she says. ‘They kind of rescue each other, and that’s the story of the show really – it’s about friendship and creativity as a positive power in these women’s lives.’
Tamsin Greig plays Holly, who has a real ‘can-do’ attitude. ‘She’s one of those people that always says “yes” to everything,’ Sally says. ‘You’ll think, who can I rely on to do this? And you know there’s always certain friends who’ll say, “I can do that”. She’s one of those people.’ Lorraine Ashbourne plays Jess, whose idea it is initially to form the band, and Amelia Bullmore plays Yvonne, who Sally describes as a foil to Holly. ‘She’s an embarrassing older sister who just says it like it is and doesn’t care who she offends,’ explains Sally. ‘They are all really different. Because they’re such fabulous actors, those five, they really know who they are and are confident in their talent, they do come across as five very distinct and strong characters.’ The entire cast is star-studded: Anne Reid, Sue Johnston, Claire Skinner – the list goes on.
Riot Women is wonderfully rooted in Yorkshire so we’re surprised when Sally reveals she did actually consider setting it somewhere else. ‘I was worried about getting typecast by setting everything in Yorkshire,’ she admits. ‘It’s a story that could’ve happened anywhere, and I did wonder about setting it in the village where I live now in the Cotswolds, but it just didn’t feel right. The kind of women I know in my village probably wouldn’t do this, whereas my friends who I went to school with (who still live up in the Calder Valley)… I could kind of imagine them doing it in the spirit of having fun and for a good cause.’
It didn’t take much for Sally to persuade herself that she should set it in Hebden Bridge. ‘Not least because I just love filming there,’ she laughs. ‘It’s got that fantastic landscape around it. It’s in the bottom of the valley and it’s surrounded by hills, and the town itself is just so colourful and so interesting. Everywhere you look, it has interesting nooks and crannies. I really wanted it to feel characterful, and like these women really live there – it’s their landscape and their culture. I think sense of place is really important in television. When viewers turn a TV on, you kind of want them to feel like they know where they are, that only this show could look like this, and feel like this. It was to give the show a really strong identity of its own. I think it’s so much easier to achieve that when you’ve got somewhere so distinctive like the Calder Valley, and Hebden [Bridge] particularly – such an unusually beautiful town. It’s not all twee and pretty, it’s got some really rough edges, but that’s part of its brilliant charm.’
Sally describes herself as an ‘entertainer’ and hopes above all that this new series indeed entertains. ‘But I hope it makes people think as well,’ she adds. ‘There’s a lot of issues hidden in there. There’s certainly aspects about women of a certain age and the things they have to deal with. It’s got a dark story running through it and I hope people will feel engaged by that. But I want to give people something they can enjoy, and want to return to each week – TV that isn’t just wallpaper, which I think we see a lot of these days!
‘We’ve all really put our hearts and souls into it. It’s been such an uplifting experience, I think for all of us. Everybody’s been so wonderful. The cast are joyous and I hope that joy comes through on screen. I hope people get as much pleasure out of it as we did.’
Sally reveals she’s working on other projects right now, one of which is her feature film debut which she’s working on with James Norton – so watch this space.
What’s your favourite hidden gem in Yorkshire?
I love the old church up at Heptonstall. It got struck by lightning in the 1870s. When we were filming Riot Women, in my downtime, I used to walk up to Heptonstall partly to keep fit and partly just because it lifts my soul. I love that old church. I’ve been going to that church since I was about 16. I painted it when I was a teenager. I think it’s extraordinary – there’s something about it. Of course Shibden Hall too, but that’s not really a hidden gem anymore – not since Gentleman Jack!
Where’s the best place in Yorkshire for an autumnal walk?
There’s too many! I love Soyland Moor. I actually like cycling around up there. I do walk there too. It’s right up on the tops. When I was little I used to walk up there with my dad and think how amazing it was up there. It’s like a little bit of heaven.
Is there a Yorkshire native who inspires you?
Anne Lister, obviously! My other Yorkshire hero is Amy Johnson, who was the aviator who flew single-handedly to Australia in 1930. She was from Hull.
