'Riot Women' Won’t Be Ignored

Sally Wainwright is hardly an unknown among connoisseurs of British TV. How could she be, when even a partial recitation of her resume goes so hard? Wainwright is West Yorkshire’s own Shonda Rhimes, Steven Knight, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and Jed Mercurio. As much as I enjoy and admire many series by each of those creators, I actually put Wainwright ahead of them all, in part because of the thematic and character development scope of her work, especially within such a narrow geographic area.

Her latest, Riot Women, is set in Hebden Bridge in the run-up to a variety show/contest to raise money for Ukrainian war refugees. Delving deeply into rich, often messy storylines for its four protagonists. The whole lark is the brainchild of Jess (Lorraine Ashbourne), a publican and the matriarch of a large, blended family. She’s very loving, but also suffers from acute, potentially relationship-destroying Main Character Syndrome. On the other hand, she’s a great drummer and hype woman.

Her future bandmates include women who are looking for a project, something they can pour their varied frustrations, angst, and fury into. Schoolteacher Beth (Joanna Scanlan) has been seriously considering death by suicide, while crimelord’s daughter and rape survivor Kitty (Rosalie Craig) is barely tethered to life, but the two quickly form a deep, mutually sustaining bond. It’s hardly smooth sailing all the way along for two deeply hurt people gingerly tiptoeing their way towards real trust and friendship, but their knack for writing catchy, emotionally resonant songs is a real boon. Newly retired police officer and bassist Holly (Tamsin Grieg) recruits her labor and delivery nurse sister, Yvonne (Amelia Bullmore), to play guitar. Holly’s younger colleague Nisha (Taj Atwal) and her sister come along for the ride as backup singers.