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TV Series: Up the Women (2013-2015)

Up the Women. Director: Christine Gernon. Performers: Jessica Hynes, Rebecca Front, Vicki Pepperdine, Adrian Scarborough, Judy Parfitt. BBC Two, 2013.

Era: Post-Suffrage Era | Media: Entertainment, Television, Video

Up the Women is a BBC Two sitcom about British suffragists, created by and starring Jessica Hynes. It begins in 1910 and is centered on the women of the Banbury Intricate Craft Circle, who presently form a suffragist league.

About the sitcom (from BBC Two):

It’s 1910 and we’re in Banbury church hall at the Banbury Intricate Craft Circle. Margaret has been to London and discovered the Women’s Suffrage movement. She decides that Banbury need to set up their own movement and The Banbury Intricate Craft Circle becomes the hilariously ineffectual ‘Banbury Intricate Craft Circle politely request women’s Suffrage.’

Up the Women was the last British sitcom to be filmed in front of a live audience at BBC’s Television Centre building. It ran for two seasons.

The Guardian called it a “hugely enjoyable” comedy about “women who meet regularly to eat cake, do their samplers and discuss the fight for equality.” Read the full Guardian review here.

Up the Women is available to watch online through Hulu.com.

Watch a preview here:

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