Alma's Not Normal: How anger and spa breaks fuelled new series

Red hair. Pink fur coat. White helmet. Green tartan trousers. Huffing and puffing uphill connected a rickety aged motorcycle towards the occupation centre.

Not rather arsenic graceful arsenic ET connected 2 wheels but that archetypal country introducing the titular quality successful Sophie Willan's sitcom Alma's Not Normal created an instant transportation with a caller audience.

It's implicit 4 years since Willan's semi-autobiographical debut bid lifted america during the lockdown gloom. Now the irrepressible Alma (Willan), an aspiring working-class histrion from Bolton whose mum Lin (Siobhan Finneran) is struggling with heroin addiction and intelligence wellness issues, is back.

For the uninitiated, the premise whitethorn dependable bleak, but not a spot of it. Pathos mightiness ne'er beryllium acold distant but humour is ever astatine the forefront.

Having tried her manus arsenic some an escort and a sandwich "artiste" astatine SubNGo successful bid one, Alma and her champion person Leanne (Jayde Adams) are connected the hunt for jobs, amusive and enactment successful the highly anticipated 2nd series. But this time, crab besides looms ample arsenic Alma's grandma Joan (Lorraine Ashbourne) receives a diagnosis.

Many aspects of Alma's beingness bespeak the real-life experiences of Willan, who was brought up by her grandma Denise, betwixt stints successful foster care.

Willan aboriginal turned to enactment enactment to marque ends meet, but anterior to that, she had caught the acting bug portion connected vacation with Denise successful Ibiza astatine a edifice play club.

She joined a theatre institution successful Manchester and acceptable astir forming her own, earlier landing the Caroline Aherne bursary successful 2017, which develops caller drama talent. And Alma was born.

Denise died of crab portion Willan was filming the archetypal bid of Alma and she dedicated her 2nd Bafta triumph successful 2022 to her zebra print-loving gran.

"The 2nd bid was precise hard to write, due to the fact that immoderate of it was worldly that I was presently dealing with alternatively than worldly that I processed agelong ago," Willan tells the BBC.

"I accidental what's ever helped maine is uncovering the political. As soon arsenic it feels governmental oregon [it's] a cultural, societal problem, past I get dormant aggravated and that’s wherefore the comedy's large due to the fact that it's anger. And love."

Her main bugbears are "the intelligence wellness strategy and the attraction strategy and each of the cuts to it.

"I wanted to instrumentality the authorities to task. I wanted to amusement the interaction connected susceptible women.

"And what happens to my mum successful [the show] is systematic failure. And past besides crab connected a much idiosyncratic [level]... everyone experiences it and we don't cognize however to speech astir that."

She explains: "Even though we each look rather narcissistic successful writing, really you can't conscionable constitute astir yourself, it has to consciousness similar it's astir thing bigger than you."

She jokes that procrastination is often her biggest enemy. "I lived successful a spa for a year!" she giggles. "It wasn’t adjacent conscious, I’d conscionable spell astir the country, avoiding [writing].

"Which is wherefore you request to wage moving people radical well.. I get Ubers now!"

Her self-care besides includes Merlot, she laughs.

Siobhan Finneran, known for roles successful deed bid specified arsenic Downton Abbey, Happy Valley and Benidorm, plays Alma's mum, an often hopeless but funny, aggravated and tenacious pistillate who is stuck successful the healthcare system's revolving doorway arsenic she tries to travel disconnected heroin.

"I emotion the information that she's got nary edit button," Finneran says of Lin.

"And the lone radical I cognize who are allowed to get distant with that are toddlers or... [people] implicit 80. They benignant of suffer the quality to edit. And I emotion that astir her due to the fact that it's precise earthy and it's precise honest."

Ashbourne is besides successful thrall to her character, who has a pugnacious exterior but a lust for beingness - and leopard print.

"I privation I was a small spot similar Joan. I invited idiosyncratic to spot the Manchester screening [of the archetypal 2 episodes of bid two]. She had had cancer, and she said, 'Lorraine, wherefore didn't you archer maine it was astir cancer?'

"And I benignant of thought, well, it is astir cancer. Of people it is. But it's benignant of astir much important that it's astir Joan's spirit... and the mode she tackles it and fights it."

But portion Joan and Lin are a familial unit to beryllium reckoned with, Alma's narration with her bestie Leanne is arguably the show's cornerstone.

Willan and Adams archetypal met doing cabaret successful 2015.

"The archetypal clip Sophie saw me, I was singing Time to Say Goodbye successful an Asda uniform," laughs Adams, who took portion successful Strictly Come Dancing successful 2022.

"And she saw maine successful a mode no-one other successful the manufacture has seen me. Sophie and I are genuine bezzies. And the fig of times we've been connected the Veuve Clicquot... due to the fact that we're fancy now. Working people radical are allowed to person standards!"

Leanne is confident, optimistic and a grafter. A unit to beryllium reckoned with.

"Sophie wrote Leanne with maine successful mind," Adams explains.

"She’s similar however I anticipation radical spot me, but truthful often successful my idiosyncratic life, erstwhile you're moving class, you don't respond to things the mode mediate people radical do. So erstwhile I get the connection 'no' I’m like, 'Well, wherefore not?'

"My vocation went crazy, which is perfectly superb but it’s besides mental. And successful that play of time, I had the spot successful this idiosyncratic that she'd written for me.

"And to beryllium capable to beryllium seen by astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic successful this manufacture successful the mode that I really am, alternatively than the mode that radical comprehend me, because... I'm astir six ft [tall] and I'm astir six ft wide.

"I can't beryllium apologetic due to the fact that I look similar an apologetic giraffe! It’s conscionable fixed maine existent spot and stability."

Playwright and screenwriter James Graham precocious called for much opportunities for working-class radical successful the TV industry.

Delivering the MacTaggart lecture astatine the Edinburgh TV Festival successful August, helium cited figures which suggest lone 8% of radical presently moving successful tv are from a working-class background.

Graham, who wrote the play Dear England and TV's Sherwood, referred to people arsenic "everyone’s slightest favourite diverseness and practice category" and said much attraction should beryllium paid to societal mobility.

Ashbourne tells Willan: "I don't deliberation there's thing connected TV rather similar it. I deliberation you're a superb relation exemplary for radical that travel from challenging oregon divers backgrounds. And you don't settee for ‘no’. You privation the champion and you are deserving of the best."

Alma's Not Normal volition beryllium shown connected BBC Two (at 22:00 BST) and connected iPlayer from Monday 7 October.