'Best comedy since Only Fools And Horses' is now streaming for free on BBC - leaving viewers 'sobbing and laughing at the same time'

Daily Mail​

21 hours ago

The 'best comedy since Only Fools and Horses' has now been made available to stream for free on the BBC - leaving viewers 'sobbing and laughing at the same time'.
Alma's Not Normal, which debuted on BBC Two in April 2020, comes from the mind of actress and comedian Sophie Willan, who wrote, created and stars in the sitcom.
It follows Sophie as Alma Nuthall, a working-class aspiring actress in her thirties from Bolton, Greater Manchester, reeling from a break-up, while working as an escort.
The three-time BAFTA-winning programme covers a range of topics, from addiction, to loss, to the inadequacy of public services.
It also draws on some of Sophie's own experiences as a care leaver, with Alma having spent time in care and left school with no qualifications.
Its two series, available to watch on BBC iPlayer, also boasts a star-studded lead cast, including comedian Jayde Adams and Grantchester actress Lorraine Asbourne.
It follows Sophie as Alma Nuthall (centre, with Lorraine Ashbourne, left, as Joan and Jayde Adams, right, as Leanne), a working-class aspiring actress in her thirties from Bolton, Greater Manchester, reeling from a break-up, while working as an escort
Jayde stars as Alma's best friend and confidant Leanne, while Lorraine plays her grandmother Joan, who raised her when her mother Lin was unable to.
Downton Abbey's Siobhan Finneran plays Lin, whose heroin addiction and mental health issues left her with a fractious relationship with her daughter Alma.
After the roaring success of the pilot in 2020, the full first series launched in September 2021, to widespread critical acclaim.
It won Sophie the BAFTAs for Best Comedy Writer and Best Female Comedy Performance.
A second series hit our screens in October last year, winning the BAFTA for Best Scripted Comedy.
The programme has a lot of fans, who have taken to social media to encourage others to watch the show too.
One said on Facebook: 'One of my favourites - so well written and acted beautifully.'
Another commented: 'Watched all of this, highly recommend it. Best comedy since Only Fools. It's hilarious if in need of a good laugh.'
Someone else chimed in: 'I sobbed and laughed at the same time... Nothing has ever done that to me before, brilliant.'
One took it even further: 'I think this is possibly the best thing I have ever watched.'
But despite the high praise, creator Sophie has confirmed the programme will not be returning for a third series.
She told Deborah Frances-White's podcast The Guilty Feminist: 'Basically, they're not getting a series three. I'm done.'
But it might not be quite the end of the story just yet: 'I want to do a Christmas special, they've commissioned the script.
'But I don't want to do another series. I want to wrap up the journey. She is no longer a situational comedy protagonist.
'They have to not learn, that's the point. She's Del Boy at the end when he gets boring and rich.'
The semi-autobiographical element of the show continued into the second series, released last year.
Like Alma, Sophie was brought up by her grandmother, called Denise, between stints in foster care.
The second series sees Alma's grandmother Joan diagnosed with cancer - and similarly, Denise died from cancer during filming of the first series of the programme.
Sophie later dedicated her BAFTA win in 2022 to her grandmother.
Also like Alma, Sophie had at one point turned to sex work to make ends meet. She developed an interest in acting around the same time.
Joining a theatre company in Manchester, she had been about to branch out to make her own when she won the BBC's Caroline Aherne bursary in 2017.
The fund, named for the creator of sitcom The Royle Family, sees a budding comedy talent supported to develop a script - and it was how Alma's Not Normal was born.
She has previously told the BBC: 'The second series was very hard to write because some of it was stuff that I was currently dealing with rather than stuff that I processed long ago.'
It saw her take aim at cuts to the mental health and care systems: 'I wanted to take the state to task. I wanted to show the impact on vulnerable women.
'And what happens to my mum in [the show] is systematic failure.'
It comes after another beloved BBC comedy also came to an end.
Man Like Mobeen sees former drug dealer Mobeen try to lead an honest life in Small Heath Birmingham after years of an unlawful lifestyle.
The show, which first aired back in 2017, was created by and stars actor and comedian Guz Khan.
It was confirmed earlier this year the comedy would make a comeback for a fifth instalment, released on May 1 - but it would be the very last one.
'In the final series, Mobeen must save Aqsa but can he even get a passport or a plane ticket to the UAE? And will he convince his friends to join him?' the synopsis reads.
Creator and star Guz previously revealed he had only written the series for fans and he would not be making another.
He explained: 'I can't even shop at Aldi without someone popping out from behind the bread aisle and asking me when there's going to be more Man Like Mobeen.
'So, for you, and only for you, here's one, final, very last, never to be done again season of Man Like Mobeen.