Sally Wainwright’s Riot Women follows menopausal women who form a punk band

The BritBox series Riot Women, created by Sally Wainwright, follows an all-female group of menopausal women in the north of England who form a punk band. The six-episode show, which Wainwright drew on her own experiences to write and directed half the episodes, comes to BritBox in the United States on Jan. 14 after a BBC run.

Wainwright has said she began experiencing brain fog and feeling low in her early 50s while juggling three shows, two teenage sons and a mother with dementia, and later discovered she was going through menopause. She said she wanted to challenge the “misunderstanding of what menopause is” without being “miserable.” The series centers on Beth, a lonely English teacher who says, “Now that I’ve got nothing left to give, I’m dispensable,” and follows the band’s preparations for a local talent show alongside their interwoven personal struggles.

Actors including Joanna Scanlan and Tamsin Greig learned instruments for the show and rehearsed the music intensively; Scanlan called the music almost a “MacGuffin” for a story about aging, womanhood and family life. Riot Women earned strong ratings for the BBC, has been renewed for a second season, and, cast members said, has brought notable offscreen joy to performers and viewers alike.

Key Topics

Culture, Riot Women, Sally Wainwright, Joanna Scanlan, Tamsin Greig, Britbox