This New Sally Wainwright Drama Is Perfect For Fans Of We Are Lady Parts

West Yorkshire native Sally Wainwright has brought us a plethora of gripping dramas set in her local area, from her breakout three-part series Unforgiven (2009) to Last Tango in Halifax (2012–20), Happy Valley (2014–23) to Gentleman Jack (2019–22) – and she has five BAFTA awards to show for it. Next up, we’re in picturesque Hebden Bridge where five menopausal women form a punk rock band and enter into their local talent contest. If you enjoyed Channel 4’s We Are Lady Parts, you will love this. Here’s everything we know so far about Riot Women, coming to the BBC later this year.

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Kitty Eckersley (ROSALIE CRAIG), Jess Burchill (LORRAINE ASHBOURNE), Beth Thornton (JOANNA SCANLAN), Yvonne Vaux (AMELIA BULLMORE), Holly Gaskell (TAMSIN GREIG) in Riot Women. (© BBC/Drama Republic Ltd.)

Riot Women: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

What do a teacher, a police officer, a pub landlady, a midwife and a shoplifting freeloader have in common? Well, plenty more than meets the eye. And when they form a punk rock band and enter into their local Hebden Bridge talent contest, Beth (Joanna Scanlan), Kitty (Rosalie Craig), Holly (Tamsin Greig), Jess (Lorraine Ashbourne) and Yvonne (Amelia Bullmore) realise they have plenty in common to shout about, too.

‘Do you ever feel like you’re living in an alternative universe?’ Beth (Joanna Scanlan) asks in the trailer. ‘Where women of a certain age become invisible?’ This is the concept underpinning Riot Women, and when we meet our characters all are facing issues in their personal lives: rebellious teenagers, marital dramas, elderly parents and perimenopausal strife.

Kitty Eckersley (ROSALIE CRAIG) in Riot Women. (© BBC/Drama Republic Ltd.)

Described by the BBC’s director of drama Lindsay Salt as ‘riotously entertaining and deeply emotional, after gathering to form their titular punk band, across six episodes we will see these unlikely friends get closer, discover heartbreaking connections, and bond over making music together.’ Speaking of music, Brighton punk duo ARXX have been enlisted to create the original music we will hear in Riot Women.

When asked by a student the name of her band, teacher Beth says they are called Riot Women: ‘We sing songs about being middle aged and menopausal and more or less invisible. And you thought The Clash were angry.’ Get a taste of that anger in the trailer below.

When the series was first announced, creator, writer and executive producer Sally Wainwright said she was ‘more excited about this than anything else I have ever written. Ever. Oh my God.’ And with Happy Valley, Gentlemen Jack and plenty more under her belt, that’s a huge statement. ‘We have five of the most fabulous actresses on the planet playing the Riot Women, she added. ‘It’s scarily exciting.’

Filmed as well as set in Hebden Bridge, we can expect to catch glimpses of the pretty West Yorkshire community, where the River Calder and Hebden Water converge. Famed for its artistic connections and tight-knit LGBTQ+ community, the buzzy high street is home to a plethora of independent businesses, tea rooms and restaurants, and beloved poet Sylvia Plath is buried in nearby Heptonstall at the parish churchyard of St Thomas the Apostle, after living nearby having wed West Yorkshire local Ted Hughes.

As BritBox International’s Robert Schildhouse puts it, Riot Women is ‘unabashed, unapologetic, and unmistakably British’.

Holly Gaskell (TAMSIN GREIG), Nisha Lal (TAJ ATWAL) Jess Burchill (LORRAINE ASHBOURNE), Kam Lal (CHANDEEP UPPAL) in Riot Women. (© BBC/Drama Republic Ltd.)

The Cast

Riot Women is totally female-led (though of course some men appear here and there), with our lead cast having starred in everything from The Thick of It to Moonflower Murders, Sexy Beast to Sherwood. The full cast we know so far includes:

• Joanna Scanlan as Beth
• Rosalie Craig as Kitty
• Tamsin Greig as Holly
• Lorraine Ashbourne as Jess
• Amelia Bullmore as Yvonne
• Taj Atwal as Nisha
• Chandeep Uppal as Kam
• Macy Seelochan as Miranda
• Anne Reid as Nancy, Holly and Yvonne’s mother
• Sue Johnston as Mary, Jess’ aunt
• Peter Davison
• Claire Skinner
• Angel Coulby
• Jonny Green
• Ellise Chappell
• Tony Hirst
• Shannon Lavelle
• Mark Bazeley
• Amit Shah
• Rick Warden
• Ben Batt
• Natalia Tena
• Melanie La Barrie
• Oliver Huntingdon
• Richard Fleeshman
• Olwen May
• Kevin Doyle
• Nicholas Gleaves
• Thomas Flynn

Beth Thornton (JOANNA SCANLAN), Jess Burchill (LORRAINE ASHBOURNE), Yvonne Vaux (AMELIA BULLMORE), Kitty Eckerson (ROSALIE CRAIG), Holly Gaskell (TAMSIN GREIG), Nisha Lal (TAJ ATWAL), & Kam Lal (CHANDEEP UPPAL) in Riot Women. (© BBC/Drama Republic Ltd.)

Release Date

Riot Women is set to premiere on BBC One and iPlayer in October, though a specific date is still TBC.

Across the Atlantic, Riot Women will be available to stream on Britbox in the US and Canada.