Such Brave Girls
{{Short description|British Television series}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Such Brave Girls.jpg
| caption = US promotional poster
| genre = Comedy
| creator =
| based_on =
| writer = Kat Sadler
| screenplay =
| story =
| director = Simon Bird
| starring = {{Plainlist|* Kat Sadler
- Louise Brealey
- Lizzie Davidson
}}
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_series = 1
| num_episodes = 6
| executive_producer = {{Plainlist|* Phil Clarke
- Jack Bayles
- Piers Wenger
- Kat Sadler
}}
| producer = Catherine Gosling Fuller
| editor =
| cinematography =
| runtime =
| company = {{Plainlist|* Various Artists Limited
}}
| budget =
| network = BBC Three
| first_aired = {{Start date|2023|11|22|df=yes}}
| last_aired = present
}}
Such Brave Girls is a British sitcom about a dysfunctional single-parent family created by Kat Sadler for BBC Three. It stars Sadler, with Louise Brealey and Lizzie Davidson. It is directed by Simon Bird and produced by A24 with Various Artists Ltd. The first series ran from 22 November 2023. It was renewed for a second series in May 2024.{{Cite web |title=BBC Comedy orders a second series of Juice and Such Brave Girls |url=https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2024/juice-and-such-brave-girls-to-return |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en}}
Sadler has described the series as being a “family sitcom about trauma”, but that it’s also about “being narcissistic losers who are pathetically obsessed with what people think about us.”{{cite web |date=18 May 2023 |title=Production begins on new BBC Three comedy Such Brave Girls |url=https://www.theknowledgeonline.com/the-knowledge-bulletin/post/2023/05/18/production-begins-on-new-bbc-three-comedy-such-brave-girls- |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120120409/https://www.theknowledgeonline.com/the-knowledge-bulletin/post/2023/05/18/production-begins-on-new-bbc-three-comedy-such-brave-girls- |archive-date=20 November 2023 |accessdate=19 November 2023 |website=The Knowledge}}
Synopsis
Deb, a forty-something single mother, is trying to rebuild her life with her boyfriend Dev. Her two adult daughters, Josie and Billie, still live with her and complicate her life.
The older sibling, Josie, is navigating mental illness and her sexual identity. Her young sister, Billie, is in toxic relationships;
Cast
- Kat Sadler as Josie Johnson
- Louise Brealey as Deb Johnson
- Lizzie Davidson as Billie Johnson
- Freddie Meredith as Seb
- Paul Bazely as Dev Wilson
- Jude Mack as Sid
- Sam Buchanan as Nicky
- Carla Woodcock as Bianca
- Amy Trigg as Claire
- Keith Evans as Police Officer (S2)
Production
The series was created and written by Kat Sadler, who also stars. It is directed by Simon Bird and was produced for Various Artists Ltd and A24 by Catherine Gosling Fuller, with Phil Clarke, Jack Bayles, Piers Wenger and Sadler as executive producers.{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/such-brave-girls/|website=Comedy.co.uk|accessdate=19 November 2023|title=Such Brave Girls|archive-date=20 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120115222/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/such-brave-girls/|url-status=live}} It was commissioned after a successful 2021 pilot episode.{{cite web|website=Funny Women|accessdate=20 November 2023|title=KAT SADLER IS A BRAVE GIRL IN BBC THREE PILOT|date=September 10, 2021|url=https://funnywomen.com/2021/09/10/kat-sadler-is-a-brave-girl-in-bbc-three-pilot/|archive-date=20 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120125713/https://funnywomen.com/2021/09/10/kat-sadler-is-a-brave-girl-in-bbc-three-pilot/|url-status=live}}
Sadler appears in the series alongside her real life sister Lizzie Davidson, and they play sisters on the show. Sadler told The Times that Davidson read the drafts and acted as her “sense check … telling me if I’ve gone too mad”. She described their characters of Josie and Billie as “not us, but they are certainly inspired by bits of us … we have taken some of the worst aspects of ourselves”. She said that their own mother had seen it “and laughed in all the right places”.{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/such-brave-girls-my-big-bbc-comedy-about-anxiety-and-dysfunction-dmg06wggc|website=The Times|access-date=20 November 2023|title=Such Brave Girls: my big BBC comedy about anxiety and dysfunction|first=Ben|last=Dowell|date=18 November 2023|archive-date=20 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120121727/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/such-brave-girls-my-big-bbc-comedy-about-anxiety-and-dysfunction-dmg06wggc|url-status=live}}
Bird wrote to Sadler asking to direct the series after watching the 2021 pilot episode, with Sadler and Bird agreeing to keep the series as a comedy rather than veer towards comedy-drama.{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/interviews/2023/11/17/54517/i_told_my_sister_i%E2%80%99d_been_sectioned..._then_we_both_burst_out_laughing|website=Chortle|accessdate=20 November 2023|title='I told my sister I'd been sectioned... then we both burst out laughing'|date=17 November 2023|archive-date=19 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119125222/https://www.chortle.co.uk/interviews/2023/11/17/54517/i_told_my_sister_i%E2%80%99d_been_sectioned..._then_we_both_burst_out_laughing|url-status=live}}
A second six-part series was commissioned in May 2024.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2024/05/such-brave-girls-bbc-hulu-comedy-second-season-1235911162/|title= 'Such Brave Girls': BBC & Hulu Comedy From Various Artists Ltd & A24 Gets Second Season|website=Deadline Hollywood|first1=
Jesse|last1= Whittock |first2= Max |last2=Goldbart|accessdate=10 May 2024|date=May 10, 2024}}
=Filming=
Filming took place across Merseyside with filming locations including The Wirral and Knowsley.{{cite web|url=https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/23934396.new-bbc-comedy-series-brave-girls-air-week/|website=Wirral Globe|accessdate=20 November 2023|date=20 November 2023|title=New BBC comedy series Such Brave Girls to air this week|first=Chloe|last=Nightingale|archive-date=20 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120115643/https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/23934396.new-bbc-comedy-series-brave-girls-air-week/|url-status=live}}
==Featured Locations==
- Linghams Booksellers, Heswall - Series 1
- Mini Monster's Funhouse, Gayton - Series 1
- West Kirby bar “The Wild Inn” - Series 1: episode 2
- The Mediterranean Kitchen, Higher Bebington - Series 1: Episode 3
- Wirral Country Park, Thurstaston - Series 1: Episode 4
- St Michael's Church, Shotwick - Series 1: Episode 4
- Heswall Hall - Series 1, Episode 5
- Heswall United Reformed Church, Heswall, Merseyside - Series 1: Episode 6
- Hooton Hand Car Wash - Series 1: Episode 6
Broadcast
The series started airing in the United Kingdom on BBC Three on 22 November 2023, with all episodes released on BBC iPlayer the same day.{{cite web|website=Stylist|accessdate=20 November 2023|title=Such Brave Girls: the BBC is gifting us a sitcom about the dysfunctionality of sisters|url=https://www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/tv/such-brave-girls-bbc/842318|first=Kayleigh|last=Dray|date=16 November 2023|archive-date=20 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120122350/https://www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/tv/such-brave-girls-bbc/842318|url-status=live}} It was available in the United States on Hulu from 15 December 2023.{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/such-brave-girls-show-a24-hulu-trailer/|website=Screen Rant|accessdate=20 November 2023|title=A24 Comedy Such Brave Girls Hypes Its Hulu Debut With Humorous New Trailer [EXCLUSIVE]|first=Owen|last=Dandov|date=15 November 2023|archive-date=15 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115161446/https://screenrant.com/such-brave-girls-show-a24-hulu-trailer/|url-status=live}}
Reception
=Critical reception=
Lucy Mangan in The Guardian described the show as “properly brutal and properly funny”, saying that she found “particular joy in seeing a woman-led, female-written show that doesn’t pull its punches”. She added that it was “brave – singular, fresh, scabrous and unflinching – but still – or, rather, as a result – hilarious.”{{cite web|website=The Guardian|accessdate=23 November 2023|first=Lucy|last=Mangan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/nov/22/bbc-such-brave-girls-review-properly-brutal-and-properly-funny|title=Such Brave Girls review – properly brutal and properly funny|archive-date=23 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123003930/https://amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/nov/22/bbc-such-brave-girls-review-properly-brutal-and-properly-funny|url-status=live}} Steve Bennett for Chortle gave the show four stars commenting that “elements of pure sitcom” combine with an “earthy, nuanced realism of the dysfunctional characters” with Sadler’s “unique comic sensibilities” combining with an “admirable reluctance to take serious issues seriously” which “makes for an impressively different series.”{{cite web|website=Chortle|accessdate=23 November 2023|title=Such Brave Girls|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2023/11/22/54548/such_brave_girls|first=Steve|last=Bennett|date=23 November 2023|archive-date=22 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231122181449/https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2023/11/22/54548/such_brave_girls|url-status=live}}
Accolades
In February 2024, it was nominated in the Best TV Show category at the Chortle Awards.{{cite web|website=Chortle|url= https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2024/02/08/54949/final_chortle_award_nominees_revealed|title= Final Chortle Award nominees revealed|date=9 February 2024|accessdate=9 February 2024}} The series was nominated for Best Scripted Comedy and Sadler and Meredith were nominated in the Best Comedy Performance categories at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards.{{cite web|url= https://rts.org.uk/award/rts-programme-awards-2024|date=7 March 2024|website=RTS.org.uk|title= RTS PROGRAMME AWARDS 2024}} In May 2024, the series won in the scripted comedy category at the 2024 British Academy Television Awards.{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/20/bafta-tv-awards-2024-nominations-full-list|website=The Guardian|date=20 March 2024|accessdate=20 March 2024|title= Bafta TV awards 2024 nominations: full list|first=Hollie|last=Richardson}} The series was nominated for Best Comedy at the 2024 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.{{cite web|url= https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/fyi/483/bpg-awards-2024-nominees/|website=Comedy.co.uk|accessdate=21 March 2024|title= Broadcasting Press Guild Awards 2024 nominees|date=29 February 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|18974452}}
{{BAFTA TV Award for Best Scripted Comedy}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Such Brave Girls}}
Category:2023 British television series debuts
Category:BBC Three original programming
Category:British comedy television shows
Category:British English-language television shows
Category:Television shows set in England
Category:Television shows shot in Liverpool
Category:Television series by A24