Riot Women is a 2025 British television series written by Sally Wainwright and produced by Drama Republic. The key songs were written by ARXX for the production. In November 2025, the BBC announced that Riot Women will return for a second series.[1]
Five women come together in Hebden Bridge to create a makeshift punk-rock band to enter a local talent contest but, in writing their first song, soon discover that they are all very angry about the way society treats women and that they have a lot to say. As they juggle demanding jobs, menopause, grown-up children, ageing parents, absent husbands, and disastrous dates and relationships, the band becomes a catalyst for change in their lives. The themes of the series include the power of friendship, music, and the resilience of women who refuse to be silenced by age or expectation. As the story progresses, it is more than music that binds them; a deeply potent, long-buried secret begins to surface – one that unexpectedly entangles Kitty and Beth, the two unlikely creative masterminds behind the band, in a complex triangle and threatens to tear everything apart.[2] Nisha, one of the band’s backing singers, experiences brutal misogynistic violence in the police force. Supporting one another, the band manages to continue playing, transforming their experiences into new songs.