The second series of the BBC’s award-winning Alma’s Not Normal, produced by Expectation, had an exclusive Manchester premiere last night ahead of its Autumn launch on BBC2 and iPlayer.
The stars of the Bolton-set comedy Sophie Willan, Lorraine Ashbourne, Siobhan Finneran, Jayde Adams and Nick Asbury were all in attendance as a sneak preview of the first two episodes were played to a packed Everyman Cinema, followed by a Q&A with the cast.
The new series sees Alma back in town and desperate for things to be different. But just as she starts to settle back into her Bolton life, grandma Joan has some shocking news that’s going to change everything.
Willan, who also created, writes and EPs the show, said: “It’s fabulous to be here in Manchester sharing a first glimpse of the new series with everyone. I’m dead nervous, but I hope people love it as much as we loved making it.”
Nerys Evans, executive producer, Expectation, added: “The Bolton setting is so key in Alma’s Not Normal, so it’s brilliant to premier the series on Sophie’s home turf. The show was made by such a talented team, in front of and behind the camera, so we’re incredibly proud of their work and can’t wait for people to watch.”
Alma’s Not Normal (6 x 30) centres on Bolton wild-child, Alma Nuthall and her family of eccentric, unruly women, and was the creation of Sophie in 2018 when she was the inaugural winner of the BBC’s Caroline Aherne Bursary Award.
Alma’s Not Normal is an Expectation production for the BBC, written and Executive Produced by Sophie Willan. It is commissioned by Jon Petrie, director of comedy commissioning. The executive producer for Expectation is Nerys Evans and the commissioning editor for the BBC is Emma Lawson. BBC Studios, which has a minority stake in Expectation, is handling international distribution.
Although the BBC is keeping its lips seals on an exact launch date for series two beyond “Autumn,” our spies in Bolton who claim to have bumped into Willan while ‘out walking the dog,” tell us September. You heard it here first.
