Phyllis Logan has a real hit on her hands with Girlfriends starting Monday night on Acorn TV
Monday Acorn TV will showcase in the United States a monster new hit Girlfriends. The show is finishing up the first season on ITV in the United Kingdom. The show has an all-star cast featuring Phyllis Logan who spent six years as Mrs. Hughes on the worldwide hit Downton Abby, she is joined by Miranda Richardson, who many will recognize from her work in the Harry Potter franchise. Rounding out the powerful trio is Zoe Wanamaker, of the popular PBS Masterpiece Theatre, show Mr. Selfridge.
Girlfriends is a very powerful and contemporary story that follows three friends struggling with the responsibilities that come with being a modern woman of a certain age. After the dramatic and sudden death of her husband Micky, Linda (Logan) reunites with childhood friends Sue (Richardson) and Gail (Wanamaker). Each is facing their own issues, from a looming divorce to the loss of a high-powered job through age discrimination and juggling the responsibilities of their grandchildren and aging mothers.
Kay Mellor is the creative force behind Girlfriends and she sees the show as a very special project. “It’s a story that I’ve been longing to tell,” she told reporters at a recent get together of the Television Critics Association. She told the gathering that “I’m aware that there are a lot of women of a certain age who feel like they are invisible and unheard, so I’m proud to have the chance to shine a light on their lives and give them a voice. The series is not just a platform for their voices though — there is a big, bold, dark story at its heart, which is shot through with humor. I’m hoping both men and women will love it as much as I’ve loved writing it.”
This week I spoke to Phyllis Logan for my Stream On podcast and she was clearly very excited about the project and was also pleased to be part of the ensemble cast.
Williams: You have really proved that there is live after Downton Abby. You went straight on to Good Karma Hospital (you can see on Acorn TV), and now Girlfriends.
Logan: Yes, I have been very blessed and both in Good Karma Hospital and now with Girlfriends, they have some things in common. Both have wonderful actors and both are well written with stories that people can relate to and enjoy.
Williams: I have watched the first three episodes of Girlfriends, and I can tell you that we get to know all three women’s backstories in a wonderfully written and acted pilot.
Logan: We kind of start off with a 200-meter dash instead of a marathon. But I think that once you get to know all of the three of the girlfriends we can get down to the business telling the stories of each of them.
Be sure to listen to the entire interview with Logan on this week’s Stream On podcast.
After watching Girlfriends, I can tell you that it is well worth your time because the series hits home on many levels. There is nothing better than a show that is well written, well-acted and most of all relatable and Girlfriends hits all of the marks. Check it out on Acorn TV, and if you not a subscriber, take the one-week free trial. Check out Logan’s two shows on Acorn TV’s both Girlfriend’s and Good Karma Hospital, they are outstanding television period.
On more bit of business on Acorn TV – Emmy-nominated actress Ashley Jensen (Catastrophe, Extras, Ugly Betty), who can currently be seen in another Acorn TV Original, Love, Lies & Records from Kay Mellor, returns in the lead role. Based on MC Beaton’s best-selling novels, the series follows a London PR whizz turned amateur sleuth, who becomes entangled in mischief, mayhem, and murder when she opts for early retirement in a small village in the Cotswolds. Series 2 begins production in April 2018 for a late 2018 premiere. Series 2 will adapt three of MC Beaton’s novels, The Wizard of Evesham, The Curious Curate and The Fairies of Fryham and will be available internationally as three 90-minute television movies or six 45-minute episodes
