Sophie Straw Is Back, Baby, in 'Funny Woman's Season Premiere

Sophie Straw (née Barbara Parker and played by Gemma Arterton) just wants to exercise her judgment in both professional and personal matters. Why is that so hard? That’s rhetorical; I know why it’s hard: there would be no TV show without this central conflict and journey, and it would not work as a series about a very talented, very beautiful young woman making her way in a world entirely unprepared to have her turn up without it, either. And yet, it drives me bananas, which is the point. 

(I am an easy mark; well done, series creator and writer Morwenna Banks!)

Even in the throes of this class/geography/gender politics vexation, I’m so happy to have Funny Woman back on screen. Within the substantial constraints of an abbreviated four-episode season, we get quite a bit of forward motion in the plot and some satisfying character development for nearly every character. The Swinging London setting and costumes are as delightful as ever, and the challenges each character is grappling with are compelling. Season two is squarely within best-case scenario territory for the second season of a solid drama with genuine humor and heart at its core.

We open a few months after the conclusion of Funny Woman’s first season. Sophie, under contract at CTV (aka Not The BBC) is looking forward to co-creating and starring in her next comedy series under Ted Sergeant’s (Alistair Petrie) aegis, while Dennis Mahindra (Arsher Ali), Bill Gardener (Matthew Beard, in his second PBS series of the year already) and Tony Holmes (Bill Leo) are hammering away at a show of their own over on “the other side” (ITV, basically). Following the unexpected conversation with her mother at the end of the last season, Sophie is somewhat estranged from her beloved father (David Threlfall) and Auntie Marie (Rosie Cavaliero). Sophie and (Alexa Davies) are still living together in their adorable garrett, and Diane (Clare-Hope Ashitey) manages Sophie’s correspondence while she’s in between jobs. Sophie and Dennis long for the day when they can be seen in public together unchaperoned, but for now, they are trying to be patient while waiting for his divorce from Edith (Emily Bevan) to come through. 

So far, so good: But! (And this is a pretty big "but," not of the variety extolled by Sir Mix-A-Lot in his immortal banger “Baby Got Back.”) Ted, in his capacity as CTV’s Head of Light Entertainment, is trying. He sincerely tries to do right by Sophie as a steward of her talent and fulfill his responsibilities. Unfortunately, he’s also trying Sophie’s patience by only half-listening to her and almost wholly hand-waving away her legitimate concerns about the new series. The writers he’s brought on are both extremely Oxbridge-y types (tweed, sweater vests, pipes) who are more interested in making each other laugh than in writing anything authentic to Sophie’s main character, her concerns, or her experiences. 

It’s demoralizing as she’s living through it, and it gets even worse when the first episode of Just Barbara airs. About halfway through the plodding, unfunny episode, Sophie sends Marj and Diane out for the sit-in they planned to attend. Bill despairs aloud at Tony and June’s place, “What are we going to tell Soph?” You know things are dire when Auntie Marie calls Sophie to try to say something nice about the show while her doting, encouraging dad can’t bring himself to come to the phone. It’s brutal and heartbreaking for all involved.

TV critics smell blood in the water and don’t hesitate for a moment to rip Just Barbara and Sophie herself to shreds for the new series’s mediocrity. With her only comfort being that her series made it to air (in contrast with Tony, Bill, and Dennis’s show imploding at its first dress rehearsal – more on that in a moment), it’s little wonder that Sophie has a dark teatime of the soul. After a few days of her moping in bed, Diane and Marj put their feet down. Marj needs to commandeer the flat so the adorable Roger can “come ’round for a cuddle,” so Diane whisks Sophie off to a wild party of the type that can only be held by a hyper-posh, hyphenated-surnamed blueblood like Lady Pandora Erskine-Albany (Lydia Leonard). 

I love that we’re getting the trippy party scene in Episode 1 this season. Not only do we get a sense of how massive and quirkily decorated Pandora’s house is, but we also have an idea of how expansive her definition of a friend is. You’ve got creative young professionals like Diane, Sophie, and Linda (Gemma Whelan), a new acquaintance, newspaper writer, and fellow working-class gal about town. Many guests are in various states of fancy dress and undress, sometimes simultaneously, and Pandora’s guest of honor, her boyfriend, was recently released from prison. 

Then there’s Marc Allen (Steve Zissis), an unflappable and immaculately dressed American who is even more notable for his sincere pleasure in meeting and chatting with Sophie without once leering at her. I like this guy, and from an exposition standpoint, I appreciate knowing that he’s a talent agent and is staying at The Clarence Hotel and that these details stick in Sophie’s mind, even in her unintentional state of being extremely high thanks to eating a staggering number of Pandora’s pot brownies.

The following day, Pandora tells Sophie – who’s somehow sleeping it off in her hostess’s bed – that she should feel free to stay as long as she likes, provided she makes sure to feed Samantha, her free-range snake. Pandora would stay longer to chat, but she simply must dash over to the Old Bailey to represent her client in court before “hiving off to the Scottish pile.*” Pandora exemplifies one of the great British archetypes, the wealthy eccentric. For a culture that so prizes conformity, they love their oddballs, and in Lady Erskine-Albany, we have a remarkably benign subtype. This casually hospitable aristocrat seemingly has a clue about people outside her usual social orbit and is immune to hangovers. What a life!

(*I didn’t make up any of those words, and I solemnly swear I am not hurling the results of a game of Mad Libs into this recap.)

No such luck for the lads. Somehow, they got arm-twisted into casting two of the most self-important actors in London. Josie Lawrence and Jack Docherty are outstandingly good, as are Dilys and Ronald, but they are also bad, incurious, and all-around awful actors with whom they’re stuck. They are a couple of primadonnas without the chops necessary to make their terrible behavior tolerable. The entire project is scrapped following a disastrous dress rehearsal where Bill objects, loudly, at the drunken Ronald ruining one of his jokes, followed by Ronald taking a swing that misses by a mile, leading him to fall off the stage. Their sole win turns out to be orchestrating a socially acceptable group hang at a local pub where Sophie and Dennis can see each other without getting into any trouble on the divorce front. 

The pub rendezvous is so adorable. Everyone’s catching up; Marj and Roger catch each other’s eyes, and Sophie and Dennis look moonily at each other in slow motion. The unmistakable snap of a paparazzo’s camera breaks the spell, leading to the gang bolting and re-enacting a great deal of the opening sequence of A Hard Day’s Night. (Inject it directly into my veins!) Sophie has a post-party flash of strategic inspiration, parlaying her acquaintance with Marc into getting cast as a replacement for the pregnant-in-disgrace Sally White. Not only will she be singing on TV in a lovely gown, but she will use the moment to get Ted to bring Dennis, Tony, and Bill back to CTV. Wins on top of wins! 

Before she can dash over to share the good news in person, Dennis pulls up in a cab to share some less-news of his own. Since he hasn’t committed adultery and Edith refuses to admit that she did (on the very reasonable grounds that it would destroy her career and make her a social pariah – no-fault divorce can’t arrive too soon), they’re going to have to wait through a three-year formal separation to be officially divorced. Sophie would rather not wait, but as Dennis refuses to be the cause of her name being dragged through the mud, she could accept it. He also doesn’t want Sophie to wait to get on with her romantic life, so he breaks up with her. Closing the episode out on this hell of a downer highlights how little genuine autonomy Sophie has right now. No matter what she does, there’s always a guy ready to impose his will instead. 

Bits & Bobs:

• Ted gets a moment of actual humanity, delighting in how funny the word “knickers” is. The man has a sense of humor, after all!
• Is it just me, or does Marj have a slightly sharper edge to her personality than we saw last season? I love the political engagement it reflects, though it also seems like she’s fed up with Sophie in a way that goes beyond wanting her to clear out for an evening.
• When Sally White is fired because “a pregnant woman is not acceptable to have on television,” Sophie’s rebuttal to that rationale is on the money: she’s pregnant, not contagious!

Funny Woman Season 2 continues on most PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel at 10 p.m. ET on Sundays through the end of February, taking over from Vienna Blood Season 4. All four episodes are available for members to watch as a binge on PBS Passport. As always, check your local listings and streamers.