In "Riot Women," the Punks Are All Grown Up

"burdened by loneliness, depression, and the incessant needs of others, pours herself a stiff drink and steps up to the noose she's hung from the rafters of her airy farmhouse. Then the phone rings: her ungrateful brother, making demands. She tries again-another ring, another request, this time from a friend. She plays the piano, doesn't she? Will she join a group of fellow-amateurs for a charity gig? Twice thwarted, Beth sighs, says yes, and gets on with the business of living."

""Riot Women," a BBC series now available to American viewers on BritBox, is the latest by Sally Wainwright, who's made a specialty of stories about iron-willed older women in her native West Yorkshire. The darkness of the opening recalls "Happy Valley," her acclaimed crime drama about a policewoman (Sarah Lancashire) caring for her young grandson, who is the product of a rape, after her daughter's suicide."

Riot Women begins with a blackly comic suicide attempt by Beth, a teacher in her fifties burdened by loneliness, depression, and constant demands. Interrupted twice by phone calls, Beth agrees to join a group of fellow amateurs in a charity gig and reluctantly chooses life. The series follows a core quintet of mostly near-retirement women who form a band that sings about being middle-aged, menopausal, and overlooked. The show balances bleak moments with crowd-pleasing humor while exploring caregiving pressures, the sandwich generation, family strain, and female resilience as characters juggle aging, responsibility, and unexpected camaraderie.

Read at The New Yorker