Hot Flush is a new BBC1 drama about five menopausal women who form a punk rock band, and the secret that could tear their lives apart. It’s a six-part drama from Doctor Foster producers Drama Republic.
Created by Happy Valley and Gentleman Jack writer Sally Wainwright and set in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire (where Happy Valley was filmed), if follows the lives of a group of women who jokingly create a makeshift butt-of-the-joke punk-rock band to enter a talent contest. However, set against the backdrop of coping with demanding jobs, children, dependent parents, husbands who have let them down and the menopause, the band becomes an outlet, giving them a voice and forcing them to question everything in their lives. But a long-buried secret could ruin them all. The cast for the exciting drama has yet to be announced but we’ll update this page in due course.
Sally Wainwright says: “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.”
Here’s everything you need to know about the BBC1 drama series Hot Flush …
The six-part drama series Hot Flush will air on BBC1 and BBCiPlayer probably in 2025. As soon as we hear of a date, we’ll let you know on this page.
Hot Flush will follow five women of a certain age who form a punk-rock band for fun, in order to enter a talent show. But as rehearsals start to take shape, the band members realise they have a lot to say, and that this is the perfect platform. As they deal with the pressures of work, grown-up children, elderly parents, useless husbands and the menopause, the band becomes a catalyst for change. However, it’s more than just music that binds them and Kitty and Beth, the unlikely creative masterminds behind the band, share a secret that threatens everything.
The cast for Hot Flush has yet to be confirmed. We will update here as soon as they are announced. There’s sure to be some well know actors after the roles.
Not yet but it’s early days. When the BBC releases a trailer, we’ll post it on here. As the 1977 drama Rock Follies inspired writer Sally, here’s a clip of that show to enjoy below…
Hot Flush is written and executive produced by Sally Wainwright while 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 ).
Roanna Benn, executive producer, says: “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, says: “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.”
Sally Wainwright. (Image credit: Getty Images) Writer, director and producer Sally Wainwright has had a phenomenal career, with a successful stint on British soap Coronation Street . She is the creator of hit shows such as Happy Valley , Gentleman Jack, Last Tango in Halifax , Unforgiven and Scott and Bailey . She wrote the 2024 series Renegade Nell and created the show At Home with the Braithwaites. She started her career as a scriptwriter on the radio drama The Archers and in the 1990s she wrote for shows such as Children’s Ward, Emmerdale, Corrie and Playing the Field . She’s also written the TV movies To Walk Invisible , about the Bronte family, and Dead Clever . Sally has won BAFTAS for Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley and was awarded an OBE in 2020.
