Sally Wainwright Delivers a Powerful and Humorous Drama with ”Riot Women”
Sally Wainwright’s latest offering,”Riot Women,” is being hailed as one of her strongest works to date,a richly layered drama exploring the lives of women navigating midlife,familial responsibilities,and unexpected new beginnings. The series kicks off with Beth, initially pursuing a plan that is halted by a phone call from her friend Jess (Lorraine Ashbourne) with a simple, life-altering question: “D’you want to be in a rock band?”
this sparks a chain of events, bringing in Holly (Tamsin Greig), recently retired from the police force after a poignant final arrest – a disoriented, flushed woman with no home, whom Holly subsequently sheltered for the night. The woman is revealed to be Kitty (Rosalie Craig), the daughter of local gangster Keith.In a twist of fate, Beth discovers Kitty performing karaoke and recruits her as the band’s indispensable singer. To balance the dynamic, Holly invites her ”joyless sister,” Yvonne (Amelia bullmore), to join on guitar, ensuring a perhaps equal share of questionable decisions.
Wainwright masterfully weaves a complex narrative, layering in themes of aging parents (at various stages of dementia), strained relationships with children, and the challenges of navigating indifferent medical systems alongside mounting physical ailments. A subplot involves a baby given up for adoption in the 1990s now searching for his birth mother. Throughout, the drama is infused with Wainwright’s signature humor, ranging from lighthearted observations – “Rocco was a tree in assembly. Before and after an explosion. it was heartbreaking” – to darker comedic moments. Kitty’s backstory is revealed: expelled from a posh school at 13 after her mother’s death, a situation her father couldn’t cope with, leading her to comment, “It was an education in all sorts of way. Apart from … education.”
Like other acclaimed series from writers such as Debbie Horsfield and Kay Mellor, “Riot Women” tackles a broad scope without feeling disjointed or leaving viewers unsatisfied. As the band prepares for a local fundraiser performance in six weeks, Beth learns to assert herself and combat the feeling of invisibility that contributed to her unhappiness. She forms a bond with Kitty, fueled by admiration for her talent, a shared passion for songwriting (“Old bags’ Department” was considered as a band name but ultimately rejected), and a mutual need for maternal connection.
the series, like “Happy Valley,” examines the multifaceted roles women occupy, the accumulating caregiving responsibilities, and how these roles evolve over a lifetime. It highlights the cyclical nature of giving and taking within families – children leaving home yet continuing to require support, mothers becoming dependent on their children.the central question posed is: what happens when a woman finds herself alone, with no one to offer support? The answer, according to Wainwright, lies in forging a self-supporting circle of friendship, a vital link in the societal chain. The drama acknowledges the potential consequences when this support system falters, but suggests that quality television, like this, can offer a temporary reprieve.
