Bold, stylish, and courageous, Gemma Arterton (Quantam of Solace) steps into the shoes of charismatic Barbara Parker, the force of nature who takes London by storm in the comedy drama series FUNNY WOMAN.
Barbara’s journey from Blackpool beauty queen to comedy superstar and the nation’s sweetheart is set during the cultural explosion of the 1960s, where she finds her comic voice in the male dominated world of the 1960s comedy drama series.
An adaption of Nick Hornby’s novel Funny Girl, by award-winning writer Morwenna Banks (Slow Horses, Absolutely), Gemma stars alongside Rupert Everett (My Best Friend’s Wedding, Adult Material), as Barbara’s agent Brian Debehnam, David Threlfall (Shameless) as Barbara’s father, George, and Tom Bateman (Behind Her Eyes, Murder on the Orient Express) to star as dangerously charming actor Clive. Also starring, Emily Bevans (Temple, Grantchester, Soulmates), Leo Bill (Becoming Elizabeth, Rare Beasts), Matthew Beard (Vienna Blood, Avenue 5), alongside Clare-Hope Ashitey (Riviera, Top Boy), Arsher Ali (Informer, The Fear Index) and Alexa Davies (White House Farm, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!).
It’s the height of the swinging 60s and Barbara Parker has just been crowned Miss Blackpool – but there’s got to be more to life than being a beauty queen in a seaside town. As the bright lights of London are calling, the determined Blackpool beauty queen, with dreams of making it in the big smoke, turns out that London is not quite as swinging as the one she expected.
With a series of setbacks, Barbara finds herself in unfamiliar territory at an audition for a TV comedy show. Barbara’s uncompromising northern wit proves to be the X factor that the show has been missing and she gets the part and becomes a surprise hit with audiences in a new sitcom that will have an impact on British comedy for decades to come. However, being a woman in a largely male environment has its own challenges, but as Barbara ‘finds her funny’ she re-defines the prevailing attitude to funny women and in the process, reinvents herself.
The Sky Original series is commissioned by Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content at Sky, Jon Mountague, Director of Comedy at Sky Studios and Tilusha Ghelani, Commissioning Editor for Comedy at Sky Studios. This comedy drama is produced by Potboiler Television and Rebel Park Productions, in association with Sky Studios. Executive Produced by Nick Hornby, Gemma Arterton, Morwenna Banks, Andrea Calderwood, Gail Egan, Jessica Parker and Jessica Malik. The series is written by multi-award-winning writer Morwenna Banks and directed by BAFTA nominee Oliver Parker. The series is distributed by NBCUniversal Global Distribution on behalf of Sky Studios.
