Riot Women, Sally Wainwright’s hotly awaited new drama, will be billed as a menopause show, and that’s fine – a show can be proud of such a shorthand in 2025, and besides, there’s a lot of menopause in it. Riot Women, the band, come together at once – the show starts off with the energy of a one-last-heist drama. View image in fullscreen Hands in the air … (from left) Amelia Bullmore, Rosalie Craig and Tamsin Greig in Riot Women. When Wainwright started writing Riot Women, she wasn’t on HRT “because I’m just one of those people who thinks you shouldn’t take drugs”, she says, wryly. Riot Women reminds us that joy isn’t something we outgrow … and it’s something worth fighting for.”Riot Women starts on 12 October on BBC One at 9pm.