The BBC and BritBox International have announced the cast of Riot Women, the brand-new drama series from the multi-BAFTA award winning writer Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, Gentleman Jack). Made by Drama Republic (One Day, Doctor Foster, The English), for the BBC, the series is a co-commission with BritBox International with worldwide distribution being handled by Mediawan Rights. While the five central characters in Riot Women feel \u201cinvisible\u201d, the cast are anything but\u2026 The leading actors \u2013 Joanna Scanlan, Rosalie Craig, Lorraine Ashbourne, Tamsin Greig, and Amelia Bullmore \u2013 at the top of their game. Sally Wainwright is a favourite here at TVGuide.co.uk, so watching her latest six-part series was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n
Rosalie has regularly split her time between her stage career, and her appearances on the TV, with her latest major TV role being in The Hack, where she played Rebekah Brooks. Riot Women (6×60) is created, written, and executive produced by Sally Wainwright, who is also the series\u2019 lead director. Amanda Brotchie (Gentleman Jack, Doctor Who) will direct block two, and Jessica Taylor (Happy Valley, Fool Me Once) is the producer. Roanna Benn (One Day, Doctor Foster) is the executive producer for Drama Republic, with Tanya Qureshi for the BBC, Robert Schildhouse and Jess O’Riordan for BritBox International. \u201cToby Higgins and Nick Pinchpeck have been their music teachers, and they\u2019ve all really applied themselves.<\/p>\n
Considering the dramatic revelations in the season finale, the Olivier nominee also has ideas for what future episodes could explore. Speaking to Radio Times this week, cast member Rosalie Craig \u2013 who plays Kitty in the show \u2013 said that the last episode \u201cdefinitely doesn\u2019t feel final\u201d. The Riot Women original music soundtrack is currently available to buy now, by Ben Foster, Riot Women and Rosalie Craig. All six episodes of Riot Women are streaming now on BBC iPlayer. I\u2019ve got a project that films towards the end of the year (but sadly I can\u2019t say what as it hasn\u2019t been announced yet!) as well as lots of other projects in development.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s miraculous what they\u2019ve done in quite a short space of time. I was really keen that they should be playing their own instruments. After we played together as a band for the first time, I finally understood the appeal of a garage band to teenagers. Working with the UK\u2019s most prolific female writer alongside some of the country\u2019s most-loved female actors was inspiring, to say the least. The shoot was challenging and demanding, of course, but I learnt so much for all these people and am so proud of what we made together.<\/p>\n
And like Happy Valley, the Yorkshire writer gives a voice to \u201cwomen of a certain age\u201d. When I\u2019m preparing to play a real person I do a lot of research and find out as much about them as possible. I\u2019ll watch as much footage as I can to observe accent, mannerisms and energy. It\u2019s important to remember that you\u2019re also in a piece of fiction \u2013 it shouldn\u2019t be an impersonation as such \u2013 rather a reflection of that person. Well, the bad news is, there\u2019s no word just yet, and because the show is still airing weekly on BBC One (for those who prefer their drama staggered out, rather than all at once), there could be a bit of a wait before there\u2019s any official announcement.<\/p>\n
Given the show is about the formation of a punk band, obviously music plays a big part. We all play our instruments and sing, and this required a lot of preparation and rehearsal. Thankfully Kitty plays the guitar and sings, both of which I\u2019m pretty familiar with.<\/p>\n