Filming underway on Kat Sadler's BBC Three sitcom Such Brave Girls
- Filming has begun on Kat Sadler's sitcom Such Brave Girls, in which she stars alongside her real-life sister Lizzie Davidson and Louise Brealey
- Directed by Simon Bird, the comedy is about a family embracing "life and love in all its ugly chaos"
- Sadler said: "Ultimately the show is a family sitcom about trauma, but it's more about us being narcissistic losers who are pathetically obsessed with what people think about us"
Filming has begun on BBC Three sitcom Such Brave Girls, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
The comedy about a dysfunctional family is written by and stars Kat Sadler, her real-life sister Lizzie Davidson and Back's Louise Brealey as two sisters and their single mother embracing "life and love in all its ugly chaos".
Amy Trigg (The Other One) plays a workmate of Sadler's character. Set in Crawley, the six 22-minute episodes are directed by The Inbetweeners star and established helmer Simon Bird (Pls Like).
Josie (Sadler), Billie (Davidson) and their mum, Deb (Brealey) are trying to claw their way to a better life, "armed only with an ability to see the line and boldly step over it. These very brave girls finally have a chance to explore themselves - but should they?"
Sadler, star of Kat Sadler's Screen Time on Radio 4, whose other writing credits include The Mash Report and Frankie Boyle's New World Order, said: "Ultimately the show is a family sitcom about trauma, but it's more about us being narcissistic losers who are pathetically obsessed with what people think about us."
Speaking at the time of the series' non-broadcast pilot in 2021, she said that Such Brave Girls is about "a family navigating life armed with nothing but a warped view of the world, poor judgement skills and self-esteem that's exclusively tied to men and women who couldn't care less whether or not they stop breathing".
The family are "vain, selfish, heavily in debt, angry, pathologically desperate for affection, minorly (sometimes majorly) criminal and bursting with misplaced, terrifying love.
"Everything we joke about in the show is from a place of lived experience. I wish I could say this is a heart-warming show about overcoming trauma, but that would be a lie. It's about three toxic, damaged egomaniacs manipulating the world and each other for their own personal gain, vengeance and glory. Yes, just like in Little Women."
Such Brave Girls is produced by Catherine Gosling Fuller (Derry Girls, Back To Life) for Various Artists Ltd (Henpocalypse!, Dead Pixels), the production company co-founded by Peep Show creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong with ex-Channel 4 commissioners Phil Clarke and Roberto Troni, in association with A24, the US film giant behind Oscar-winning best pictures Everything Everywhere All At Once and Moonlight, making its first incursion into British television comedy.
Jon Petrie, director of BBC Comedy, who commissioned the series with Fiona Campbell, controller of BBC Three, said: "We are very proud to be supporting Kat Sadler's bold new comedy. She is a unique, British voice that we can't wait to introduce BBC viewers to".
Sadler executive produces the series, alongside Clarke, Jack Bayles and Helen Williams for VAL and A24. The commissioning editor for the BBC is Gregor Sharp.
"Completely original, dark, and incredibly funny are the words I'd use to describe Kat Sadler's writing" said Clarke, co-director of VAL. "Such Brave Girls is a family sitcom, but unlike any sitcom you've seen before. It's brave, truthful and contemporary. New narrative comedy writing for TV at its absolute best".
Bayles, VAL's head of comedy, added: "In Such Brave Girls Kat has created an absolute gem of a comedy. It's timely, thought provoking and brutally brutally funny. We couldn't be happier to be working with her."
The Such Brave Girls pilot was directed by Marco Alessi and produced by Simon Mayhew-Archer for Camden Productions. A broadcast date for the series will be announced in due course.