Riot Women Review: Happy Valley Creator's Latest Drama Packs An Emotional, Punk Rock Punch

With Riot Women, iconic British TV writer Sally Wainwright once again proves she's a master of character-driven drama, women's stories, and explorations of grief, fear, and trauma. This time around, Wainwright, responsible for hit dramas like Happy Valley, Scott & Bailey, and Gentleman Jack, brings together a compelling group of menopausal women who form a punk band for an adults-only charity talent show.

Sounds like a riotous romp, right? And it is, at times. Deadpan line deliveries and genuinely funny, laugh-out-loud character interactions are sprinkled in throughout the show as needed. But as Wainwright has proven before, for her, comedy and humor are simply a part of life; even if that life is sometimes terrifyingly tragic and lonely.

These women aren't just bothered by hot flushes, anxiety, and recurring UTIs. They're fighting for their lives, their voices, and their friends in a world that's ignored them and left them behind.

Riot Women Celebrates The Joy Of Music And Creation

Riot Women isn't an easy watch — the women that make up the titular band experience domestic abuse, sexual assault, depression, harassment, ailing family members, suicidal thoughts, and violent, predatory men. It's an undeniably worthwhile watch, however, as this season's six episodes, led by an incredibly charismatic cast, will whisk you away to Northern England's Calder Valley and a brilliant world of grungy, amateur punk music.

The main cast, consisting of Joanna Scanlan's keyboardist Beth, Rosalie Craig's singer Kitty, Lorraine Ashbourne's drummer Jess, Tamsin Greig's bassist Holly, and Amelia Bullmore's guitarist, Yvonne, all join the band for different reasons. Yvonne and Holly join for a laugh, a new hobby, and to do their friend Jess a favor, while Jess feels a need to prove herself.

It's about much more than that for Kitty and Beth, however.

For Beth, music is literally a lifeline. In the opening minutes of the show's first episode, Jess calls to ask her to join the band during one of her darkest moments. Beth is also the one who recruits Kitty as their singer. Following a difficult day of self-medicating, Kitty sings a stirring karaoke cover of "Violet" by Hole in a nearly empty pub as Beth watches on.

While most of Riot Women's leading ladies have their own impressive, gut-punching storyline, this season feels like Kitty and Beth's show. Producing music means the most to them, as they use their songwriting and performances as a way to connect and express their deepest feelings. The relationship between them is complex, and a massive revelation brings them even closer together, despite its power to tear them apart.

They become family in every sense of the word, and watching them overcome their respective anxieties and traumas is just as cathartic as watching their fledgling band nail their first official performance in a school auditorium. The band's debut will have viewers smiling all the way through, singing along with simple lyrics and trying to match Kitty's impressive vocal volume.

The show's three original songs, written by alternative rock duo ARXX — "Just Like Your Mother," "Seeing Red," and "Riot Women" — are unlikely to reach the top of the charts. They do, however, provide a perfect soundtrack for these women's messy, realistic stories. In a world that's increasingly devaluing human ingenuity and creation in favor of speed and quantity, Riot Women's raw artistic honesty is incredibly refreshing.

I Want To See More From The Rest Of The Riot Women

Kitty and Beth are worthy leading protagonists, but their bigger roles in the story ultimately lead to some other members of the band falling by the wayside. After Kitty and Beth, Tamsin Greig's Holly (a recently retired police officer) gets the most to work with, as she has an interesting arc helping her former young colleague, Nisha (Taj Atwal), navigate misogyny in the workplace.

Yvonne is by far the least developed in the band. Bullmore is a terrific comic actress, and her scenes are some of the show's funniest; sadly, though, we learn very little about her personal life beyond her familial connection to Holly and her work at the hospital. Ashbourne's Jess, similarly, deserves a bit more to chew on, though the resolution of her relationship with her daughter was genuinely moving.

That said, if my biggest complaint about Riot Women is that I wanted to learn more about these characters, then Wainwright has clearly crafted something special. What really stuck with me is that each of these characters, including Nisha, finds some form of closure. These women deserve a win, and I felt genuinely uplifted by the end of Riot Women, eager to see more.

Riot Women premieres in North America with two episodes on January 14, only on BritBox. New episodes will drop weekly on Wednesdays. All episodes are available to stream on BBC iPlayer in the UK.