
BBC turns up volume with Riot Women
FIRST LOOK: Joanna Scanlan, Rosalie Craig, Tamsin Grieg, Lorraine Ashbourne and Amelia Bullmore head the cast of BBC and BritBox series Riot Women, the new drama from Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright.
The pictures reveal the Riot Women band in action, with Scanlan (After Love) as Beth, Craig (Moonflower Murders) as Kitty, Greig (Sexy Beast) as Holly, Ashbourne (Sherwood) as Jess and Bullmore (The Buccaneers) as Yvonne.
Taj Atwal (Line of Duty), Chandeep Uppal (Holby City) and Macy-Jacob Seelochan (Shadow and Bone) play Nisha, Kam and Miranda, the band’s riotous backing singers.
Riot Women enters the world of five women who come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band in order to enter a local talent contest but, in writing their first original song, soon discover that they have a lot to say – and this is their way to say it.
As they juggle demanding jobs, grown-up children, complicated parents, husbands who’ve buggered off, and disastrous dates and relationships, the band becomes a catalyst for change in their lives, and it’s going to make them question everything.

Testament to the power of friendship, music and the resilience of women who refuse to be silenced by age or expectation, it soon emerges that it’s more than music that binds them; a deeply potent, long-buried secret begins to surface – one that unexpectedly entangles Kitty and Beth, the two unlikely creative masterminds behind the band, in a complex triangle – and threatens to tear everything apart.
Set and filmed in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, the six-part series is made by Drama Republic (One Day, Doctor Foster, The English) for the BBC in a co-commission with BritBox. Worldwide distribution is handled by Mediawan Rights.
Riot Women will also star Anne Reid (The Sixth Commandment), Sue Johnston (The Royle Family), Peter Davison (Doctor Who), Claire Skinner (Outnumbered), Angel Coulby (Merlin), Jonny Green (White Lines), Ellise Chappell (Yesterday), Tony Hirst (Hollyoaks), Shannon Lavelle (The Hardacres), Mark Bazeley (Broadchurch), Amit Shah (Happy Valley), Rick Warden (Red Eye), Ben Batt (Domina), Natalia Tena (Harry Potter), Melanie La Barrie (& Juliet), Oliver Huntingdon (Sherwood), Richard Fleeshman (The Sandman), Olwen May (A Very British Scandal), Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey), Nicholas Gleaves (Bodyguard) and Thomas Flynn (Masters of the Air).
Featuring original songs from the band ARXX, Riot Women is created, written and executive produced by Wainwright, who is also the lead director. Jessica Taylor (Happy Valley) 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.
Riot Women will premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK later this year. BritBox will air the series in the US and Canada. Mediawan Rights will distribute the series internationally with the participation of Entourage Ventures.
tagged in: Amelia Bullmore, BBC iPlayer, BBC One, Britbox, Drama Republic, Joanna Scanlan, Lorraine Ashbourn, Mediawan Rights, Riot Women, Rosalie Craig, Sally Wainwright, Tamsin Grieg