The Change

Fifty year old Linda realises she's going through the menopause, the realisation makes her aware of everything else going on in her life, the fact that she's totally taken for granted. Linda ups and leaves and heads for a place she visited as a child.

What a refreshing comedy, and a subject that isn't always picked as a topic for humour. The Change is very much shown as a positive step for Linda, who realises her life is going nowhere, so she says enough is enough.

It starts off as pretty straightforwardly humour, then ventures into something a little surreal, but still funny. For me it's like Spaced meets The Whicker Man.

It does make a few political statements, but it doesn't demonise one group of another, it has a few laughs at everything. One thing it does set out to do, is to normalise the menopause, women's identities and rights to live how they want.

Bridget Christie was tremendous, I loved Linda, she's smart, sassy, she's a good person, with a conscience, she's just had enough.

A wonderful cast, Monica Dolan, Susan Lynch, Paul Whitehouse, Jim Howick are all brilliant.

I really hope there's more to come, I really did enjoy this series.

8/10.

I was very pleasantly suprised by how good this series was. Its written by and stars Bridget Christie who I wasn't familiar with before, but she does a terrific job in both departments. There's also a familar and talented cast with the likes of Omad Djalili, Paul Whitehouse, Lisa Tarbuck (Brilliant!) and Monica Dolen in character roles.

More than anything this was a comedy that was actually laugh out loud funny, great comic characterisation, quirky story, sharply observed and some very funny one-liners. It was also very well-paced - the 25 minute episodes zipped by.

Congrats to all involved! I know C4 are cutting budgets at the moment but I really hope this one comes back, its a little gem and truly deserves it.

As a (slightly) pre-menopausal male, I may not be the natural constituency for this show, but I hands-down loved it.

I've heard bits and pieces of Bridget Christie's comedy over the years, mostly on the radio, generally enjoying it but accepting it mostly as comic entertainment. This is a real step up: the writing is on point, big hearted and the larger than life West Country characters shine in every episode. There are laugh out loud moments in every episode.

The rustic folk-tinged score is a great counterpoint to the full range of tender to angry moments throughout. The central character's quest was not so different to my own mother's struggle to establish an identity as she hit her forties.

I watched the whole thing in one day. As a fellow west country girl who now lives in the city, I thought it was a beautiful rendition of the feeling of longing to be in the forest again. Christie's intelligent script brings the perfect amount of comedy to compliment the show's more serious themes. You will quickly fall in love with the place and the characters. It's a gentle and tender comedy-drama with middle-aged women at its heart, a group usually completely underrepresented in tv.

Lost a couple of points for me due to a slightly rushed ending but definitely left on a cliffhanger for a second season, so forgivable. At a few moments the script was perhaps a bit animated/forced but overall it was a really enjoyable show. Looking forward to seeing the loose ends tied up in a potential second season 🤞🏼

I saw a few minutes of this on a social media post promoting the new drama which prompted me to check it out. So glad I did... it was sensitively written with humour, a truly believable cast and story. I binged it over 2 nights (thanks Channel 4 for having it all streamable) and now I really want/need a second series, especially after how it ended!!

Definitely appeals to "women" & specifically those of us of a certain age - those of us who do feel invisible, men take note! It's time to wake up and realise we women are just over 50% of the world population so we DO matter and should be seen and have a voice.

Trees not roads, all hail The Eel Queen, "May all your transitions be joyful"