New drama alert! Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright to return to BBC with new drama Hot Flush set in Hebden Bridge

BAFTA-winning writer Sally Wainwright returns to the BBC following the phenomenal success of Happy Valley with Hot Flush, a new drama for BBC One and BBC iPlayer announced today (Thursday) by Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Hot Flush centres on the lives of five women of a certain age who come together to create a makeshift, butt-of-the-joke punk-rock band in order to enter a talent contest, but when they rehearse together they suddenly discover that they have a lot more to say than they ever imagined, and this is the way to say it. 

The six-part drama from Doctor Foster producers Drama Republic, follows the women as they deal with demanding jobs, grown-up children who still eat up their energy, dependent parents, husbands who’ve let them down and the menopause.

The band becomes a catalyst for change in the women’s lives, and it’s going to make them question everything.

As the story, set in Hebden Bridge, progresses it’s more than music that binds them; a deeply potent, long-buried secret connects Kitty and Beth, the two unlikely creative masterminds behind the band, and it’s a secret that could tear everything apart.

Writer and executive producer Sally Wainwright said: “I've been wanting to write a series like this for a long time. It's a celebration of women of a certain age, and all the life-stuff they suddenly find themselves negotiating/dealing with.

"The show is also my own personal homage to Rock Follies of '77, and the feisty Little Ladies who woke me up to what I wanted to do with my life when I was 13.

"I'm thrilled to be working with Charlotte again at the BBC, looking forward hugely to working with Lindsay, and utterly delighted to (finally!) be working with Roanna again at Drama Republic.”

Executive producer Roanna Benn said: “I am truly over the moon to be working with the amazing Sally on her new show for the BBC. In Hot Flush, Sally has found a unique way to explore and celebrate female friendships that is bold, vital and true.

"In inimitable Sally-style, Hot Flush introduces us to brilliant and unforgettable characters; it is so funny, and simultaneously so full of drama, it will have you laughing and sitting on the edge of your seat.

"This is a show about the women who hold up modern Britain, their stories urgently need to be told, and who better than Sally Wainwright to do that.”

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, added: “We’re so excited to have the magnificent Sally Wainwright back writing on the BBC, with the brilliant Drama Republic team producing.

"Hot Flush is a sharply observed, vibrant and vital story of five very different women at the same stage in their lives, joined together by their love of music.

"But that’s just the start and - as you’d expect from Sally - there are twists and turns aplenty to keep viewers enthralled.”

Hot Flush is written and executive produced by Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, Gentleman Jack). Roanna Benn (Doctor Foster, My Mad Fat Diary, Pure) is the executive producer for Drama Republic and the producer is Clare Shepherd (The A Word, Viewpoint, Kidnapped).