SALLY WAINWRIGHT'S RIOT WOMEN CONFIRMED FOR SECOND SERIES ON BBC ONE AFTER RATINGS SUCCESS

Riot Women, the hit drama series by multi-BAFTA award-winning writer Sally Wainwright, will return to the BBC for a second series.

The first series, which launched in full on BBC iPlayer in October and concluded its weekly BBC One run on Sunday 16 November, has been widely praised by critics and viewers alike. The first episode received 5.4 million viewers in 28 days (28-day all screens figure).

Created and written by Sally Wainwright and made by Drama Republic, a Mediawan company, series one followed a teacher, a police officer, a pub landlady, a midwife, and a shoplifting freeloader: five menopausal women who formed a punk rock band to take part in a local talent contest, and suddenly found they had a lot more to shout about than they ever imagined. As they became closer, the teacher, Beth, and freeloader, Kitty, discovered a surprising, earth-shattering connection from their past.

Set and filmed in Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, the Riot Women band members included Joanna Scanlan (After Love, The Thick of It) as Beth, Rosalie Craig (Moonflower Murders, Serpent Queen) as Kitty, Tamsin Greig (Sexy Beast, The Completely Made Up Adventures of Dick Turpin) as Holly.

Plus Lorraine Ashbourne (Sherwood, Alma's Not Normal) as Jess, and Amelia Bullmore (The Buccaneers, Vienna Blood) as Yvonne, with Taj Atwal (Line of Duty), Chandeep Uppal (Holby City), and Macy Seelochan (Shadow and Bone) as Nisha, Kam and Miranda, the band’s riotous backing singers.

The second series will show what comes next for the Riot Women following the dramatic turn of events in series one’s final episode. Further details will be announced in due course.

Sally Wainwright, creator, writer, lead director and executive producer, says: “Oh, this is where the fun really starts! We’ve all been so deeply moved by the huge, overwhelming, joyous, emotional response to series one, and now we’re able to take the Riot Women extravaganza onto the next level! We hope you’ll all join us on the series two rollercoaster!”

Roanna Benn, executive producer for Drama Republic, says: “We are bowled over by how hugely audiences have loved and resonated with Sally’s brilliant characters and stories and by the rightful praise for the phenomenal actors who have each made their character so much their own. We have so many stories yet to tell for them and we cannot wait to get started.”

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, says: “Riot Women has resonated with millions of BBC viewers so I’m over the moon that we get to go again. An enormous thank you goes to Sally, Roanna, the team at Drama Republic and the dream cast and crew. Riot Women has made people laugh, cry, think and connect with others - what more could we ask for... Bring on the next chapter!"

Riot Women series one was created, written and executive produced by Sally Wainwright, who was also the lead director.