‘Happy Valley’ Creator Sally Wainwright Unveils Female-Led Cast for BBC Drama ‘Riot Women’
Sally Wainwright, creator of TV hits Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, and Gentleman Jack, is turning her attention to a new BBC project, Riot Women.
The six-episode series, from Drama Republic, on Thursday unveiled its cast as filming continues in West Yorkshire, England.
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Joanna Scanlan (After Love, The Thick of It) will lead the cast as Beth, along with Rosalie Craig (Moonflower Murders, Serpent Queen) as Kitty, Tamsin Greig (Sexy Beast, The Completely Made Up Adventures of Dick Turpin) as Holly, Lorraine Ashbourne (Sherwood, Alma’s Not Normal) as Jess, and Amelia Bullmore (The Buccaneers, Vienna Blood) as Yvonne.
In Riot Women, “we dive headfirst into the world of five women who, along with two riotous backing singers, come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band in order to enter a local talent contest,” a plot synopsis reads. “But in writing their first original song, they soon discover that they have a lot to say – and this is their way to say it.”
When 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 — it threatens to tear everything apart.
Sally Wainwright, creator, writer, and executive producer, said: “I think I am more excited about this than anything else I have ever written. Ever. Oh my God. We have five of the most fabulous actresses on the planet playing the Riot Women. It’s scarily exciting.”
Riot Women will feature original songs from the band ARXX. Anne Reid (The Sixth Commandment) will play Nancy, Holly and Yvonne’s mother, with Sue Johnston (The Royle Family) as Jess’s Aunt Mary. Peter Davison (Doctor Who) and Claire Skinner (Outnumbered) and Angel Coulby(Merlin) also join the cast.
The series will also star Taj Atwal (Line of Duty), Chandeep Uppal (Holby City), 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), Melanie La Barrie (& Juliet), Oliver Huntingdon (Sherwood), Richard Fleeshman (The Sandman), Olwen May (A Very British Scandal), Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) and Nicholas Gleaves (Bodyguard).
The series is a co-commission with BritBoxInternational with worldwide distribution being handled by Mediawan Rights, with the participation of Entourage Ventures.
Riot Women will premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the U.K. next year. BritBox International will air the series in the U.S. and Canada.
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