BritBox Scoops Up Critically Acclaimed Comedy 'The Change'

if you watch a lot of TV, then you already know that stories about the middle-aged female experience are few and far between. Most shows tend to either focus on young women (girls experiencing traditional coming-of-age journies, romantic ingenues on the hunt for a perfect man) or older characters who occupy a vastly different stage of life (sassy grandmas, dowagers full of quick-witted wisdom, the nice old ladies who solve crimes 'round the village). The female characters who sit in the middle space between those two groups are given shockingly little attention and stories that spotlight the challenges specific to that time of life are vanishingly rare.

This is what makes the upcoming BritBox comedy The Change so intriguing. A Channel 4 series that won fairly widespread critical acclaim in the U.K., it tackles a subject that many (particularly in this industry) find uncomfortable to acknowledge: Menopause. Now, the idea of a comedy about the so-called "change of life" is...let's just call it unexpected, but the series promises to unpack the unique tension between trauma and freedom that often categorizes this time of life.

The Change stars stars multi-award-winning stand-up comedian-actor-writer-producer Bridget Christie (Ghosts) as Linda, a fiftysomething, working-class mother of two who experiences an existential crisis when she realizes menopause is upon her, and literally goes into the woods to live deliberately in the wilderness of the Forest of Dean. There, she encounters an array of bizarre locals who help her recalibrate her outlook on life and herself. And apparently, pigs are somehow involved.