Funny Woman

For me, Funny Woman was a fabulous accidental find ...so needed a laugh tonight after a bleak day. Thankfully Funny Woman gave the laughs I needed...Gemma Arterton is mesmerising on screen & perfect as comical Sophie Straw. Loving this show & need more...such a great find! Hope there's a series 2, 3, 4 etc...thanks for great television, such a rarity today... Sophie Straw aka is Barbara Parker from Blackpool; Funny Woman is set in the swinging 60's & Barbara is off to London to make a better life for herself. This she does with gusto & great humour...love the music too! Great watch tv that is essential viewing...

What an astounding tour de force - Gemma Arterton is simply astonishing and owns every second on screen.

A rags to riches tale of nostalgia and the golden era of tv. Funny touching and always endearing without becoming treacly.

I am hoping that the 6 episodes are not the only time we get to see the life of Sophie Straw/Barbara Parker & the crazy 60' world of showbiz and it's characters.

I seriously believe that Miss Arterton has announced to the world that she is here to stay and her stay is on the rise again after her performances in this excellent show. A huge success and a great adaptation of a Nick Hornsby novel.

I am old enough to remember all of the sixties, though I was more or less still a child when the decade ended. The period detail, in terms of scenery etc seems authentic. The characters are more or less right, except, whilst feminism became a thing during the sixties, it wasn't, I think, quite such a big deal as it is for the cast here. The show writers here are obviously meant to be Galton and Simpson (albeit that those writers are referenced by the characters) and I guess that Dennis is Dennis Main-Wilson. The two main characters of the show within the show being an unmarried couple though is a bit anachronistic. Yes, in the cinema the reality of life was being portrayed, in stuff like A Taste Of Honey, Poor Cow, Up the Junction etc and I think it may have been touched upon in TV drama, but not in the sitcoms everyone sat down to at 7.30pm. Anyway, it's not quite real but it's amusing enough.

Based on the book by Nick Hornby Funny Woman start's with a Blackpool beauty queen, who has her future mapped out for her. Bored in her Blackpool rock making factory, destined to marry the local butcher. She gives it all up to head south to London in search of fame and fortune.

As always this does not go to plan wannabe comedian actress Barbara Parker aka Sophie Straw. Works her way through various mundane job's in between auditions before getting her break in a TV situation comedy written and staring by oxbridge performers who fail to grasp her northern humour.

Set in the swinging sixties Funny Woman is a delightful nostalgic trip through the period of early television and how women were faced prejudices to be seen as funny in what was a man's world. 8/10.

Loved this mini-series. These days, they usually go on for too long, but there's not an ounce of fat on this one and it breezes by in six episodes.

Gemma Arterton shines as the funny woman, and Rupert Everett is quite hilarious, seemingly channeling Alastair Sim a bit. The rest of the cast is excellent, and the script is very fine. I haven't read the book, so I cannot compare the two, but I found this totally enjoyable and highly entertaining. The recreation of the 1960's was very good, including some imaginative use of vintage films of London with Arterton skillfully inserted into them. Highly recommended.