Thinkbox
If there’s a moment that sums up the freewheeling joy and riotously funny return of Channel 4’s We Are Lady Parts, it’s when the titular punk band launch into a song about Malala Yousafzai.
And who should turn up in a fabulous Beyonce pastiche - to say any more would risk spoiling it - but Malala, of course!
‘I was at a talk with her where she was expressing her love of comedy and she had such a dark sense of humour, I thought, maybe there’s a chance,’ says the comedy’s creator, writer and director, Nida Manzoor.
‘So I wrote her a letter and it was like, yeah of course. She was so gracious and so much fun on set it made everyone feel so at ease. We were all a little bit nervous but she was just like yeah, cool. She was amazing.’
The adventures of the all-female, all-Muslim group, We Are Lady Parts was universally acclaimed when its first series aired on Channel 4 three years ago with a 100% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Like a band that makes a smash hit debut, there is always the danger of that ‘difficult second album’.
Manzoor, who in between times wrote and directed action comedy Polite Society, knocked any concerns out of the park by turning everything up to 11, a whirlwind of smash cuts and surreal escapades, banging tunes and lovingly crafted homages to the likes of Reservoir Dogs and CSI.
Rarely has a sitcom felt so cinematic.
‘I had it at the beginning, the fear of topping season one, but then you get back into the characters and the world and you get drawn in by the joy and excitement of getting to write and create this,’ says Manzoor.
‘It was just that joy of having a series that already exists, where I trusted my team and had these incredible actors. There was so much trust across the board, I really felt empowered to push it further and go bigger and bolder.’
We rejoin the band with them headed towards the recording studio on the back of their first UK tour, only for the emergence of a rival band to threaten everything (along with more existential questions about the meaning of success and friendship).
Produced by Working Title Television, We Are Lady Parts started life as a short-form comedy Blap, Channel 4’s new talent initiative which has developed quite the track record, along with shows such as Stath Lets Flats, Home, Dead Pixels and Disability Benefits.
It was followed by the first series proper in which guitarist and microbiology PhD student Amina (Anjana Vasan) joins, leaves, and then triumphantly rejoins her fellow bandmates (Sarah Kameela Impey, Juliette Motamed and Faith Omole) overseen by their manager, Lucie Shorthouse.
Channel 4’s head of comedy Charlie Perkins says it was a ‘brilliant example of what Channel 4 Comedy does best in identifying brilliant new comedic talent, trusting them with making something, and giving them a platform to develop and build brilliant work’.
'It’s a proper gang show - a bunch of true individuals with their own quirks, nuances and insecurities all perfectly melded together in the writing by Nida and performed by an incredible cast,’ says Perkins.
‘Nida balances light and shade brilliantly in the comedy and the narrative arcs of the series making for both a joyous and moving experience as a viewer.
‘I love the ambition and scale of the visual direction too - the creativity is awesome and distinctive and this and the music are all additive and working in harmony alongside everything else which is such a skilful thing to have achieved.’
Perkins also highlights the ‘exceptional diversity representation that’s intrinsically a part of We Are Lady Parts both on and off screen … Channel 4 works to represent the length and breadth of the UK and support the independent production sector [and] it is an incredible, hugely valued and respected part of the show for us.’
It was something very much echoed at the new series launch this month by Meera Syal, who has a standout guest starring role as a punk legend in the new series.
Syal - who used her Bafta lifetime achievement award last year to call for more diversity 'not just in front of the camera but in the writers' rooms, in make-up vans, and around tables where deals are done’ - said it was ‘the most joyful and the most diverse set I have ever been on and I don’t think that’s an accident, the two go together.’
‘These women are amazing, I’m honoured to be part of it,’ said Syal. ‘I chased Nida [Manzoor] to be in this, not the other way round. You are changing the landscape and I am so proud to be a part of it.’
Back when the first series debuted three years ago, the Guardian said We Are Lady Parts ‘offered something we’ve never seen before on mainstream television: Muslim women being themselves, and rocking out to rowdy punk anthems.’
Manzoor, who is also an executive producer on the show, says: ‘’Growing up I never got to see myself on screen so making this show has always fed my soul in a really meaningful way.
‘Seeing Muslim women being funny - if I can just get that done - that for me is it. Because Muslim women representation is just so narrow, showing these women as funny for me was the big thing.’
* We Are Lady Parts is available to stream on Thursday 30th May on Channel 4 or watch live at 10pm.