Dolly Wells

Alice Lowe and Dolly Wells interview

Alice Lowe and Dolly Wells play thieving sisters on the run who hide out during a poetry retreat in Black Mountain Poets, an improv comedy gem which premiered this week at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF).

Dolly Wells interview

Dolly Wells was forever in the shadow of childhood friend Emily Mortimer... then they wrote their sitcom Doll & Em together and it changed her life.

Radio Times review

Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells's comedy isn't for those who prefer their gags with punchlines. But if you're tickled by excruciating silences and lashings of irony, this not-so-fictional account of their friendship will have you in stitches.

In this episode, they insult and then attempt to win back the actresses who will play them in their first effort as playwrights. "She's got no home, no career, no relationship," the one playing Doll says to the other, as if the woman she's talking about isn't sitting on the other side of the table, thin-lipped and sad-eyed - "They're unlikeable."

Over on Sky Atlantic, there were two more women with an ear for convincing, funny and unselfconscious dialogue. Last week saw the welcome return of Doll & Em, a sitcom written by real-life best friends Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells who play exaggerated versions of themselves. The opening episode saw the duo retreat to a lighthouse to write a play.

The charm of Doll & Em lies in its minute and accurate observation of female friendship. There is one scene, in the back of a New York cab, when Doll congratulates Em for having hair that "looks French" before bemoaning the state of her own barnet in order to elicit a return compliment from Em, which is an understated masterclass in the way women work.

Doll & Em review: 'breezily watchable'

Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells's sitcom is charming but not quite funny enough, says Michael Hogan.

Second series for the super awkward-buddy comedy starring real-life best friends Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells. The now-reconciled chums decide to stay in a lighthouse for inspiration, so they can write their new play together. Then it's off to Em's house in Brooklyn where Doll moves into the au pair's room. At first, it's all happy selfies and mutual appreciation. But it can't last long as the delicately balanced see-saw of their friendship begins to teeter. Tonight's guest star is Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Radio Times review

Dolly Wells and Emily Mortimer write as well as star in this satire about lifelong friends who are both actors. In the first series, out-of-work Doll became Em's assistant with messy results. It was deliciously excruciating because it was so close to the bone: they really are childhood pals who chose the same career path, and on paper Mortimer is the more successful.

Series two finds them best mates again and endeavoring to pen a script together, which of course is what the real Mortimer and Wells have done. There's a brilliantly awkward scene in which they pitch their efforts to a nonplussed Harvey Weinstein.

Dolly Wells interview

As season two of the sitcom Doll & Em begins, Dolly Wells talks about her best friend on and off screen, Emily Mortimer, and her tangled relationship with her father, the satirist John Wells.

New comedy film Black Mountain Poets announces cast

Alice Lowe, Dolly Wells and Laura Patch will be appearing together in a new film, Black Mountain Poets, planned for release later this yea.

Ewan McGregor & Olivia Wilde to appear in Doll & Em

Ewan McGregor and Olivia Wilde are amongst the names announced for series two of Doll & Em. They will be joined by Evan Rachel Wood and Mikhail Baryshnikov in the series, which stars Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells.