Raised By Wolves

The teenage girls living in the council house in Wolverhampton in Raised By Wolves (Channel 4, Monday) are a bracing breath of fresh air. If you saw the 2013 pilot you'll know what to expect; this semi-autobiographical sitcom about growing up in the 1980s is written by Caitlin Moran, the journalist and How to Be a Woman author, and Caroline Moran, her comedy-writing sister.

There's Germaine/Caitlin (played by Helen Monks), a stroppy 16-year-old sex-fixated extrovert; Aretha/Caz (Alexa Davies), her sarcastic, world-weary sidekick sister; and a gaggle of smaller children, "the babbies", in a chaotic bookish household headed by Della (Rebekah Staton), their no-nonsense mum.

Now commissioned for a series (under its Irish director, Ian FitzGibbon) and set in the present day, the first episode is mostly about Yoko getting her period, necessitating a family outing to "the aisle of shame" at Boots. "I don't think I want to be a woman, Mum," says Yoko as Germaine - she really is annoying - gleefully piles on the bloody (and hilarious) horror stories. "Nobody does, love, but the men are too chicken shit to handle it, so here we are," says Mum.

The girls love their movies and literary references, and inevitably, in their nonconformist clothes - Germaine channels Helena Bonham Carter - they're bullied. "There are CCTV cameras everywhere, you know," warns Aretha as a yob tries to steal her scarf. "George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty-Four was entirely prescient."

They talk like this all the time. The only out-of-sync element punctuating the knowing dialogue and girl-power capers is a cheesy subplot involving Grandad, in his fluffy robe, getting prepped to seduce Granny over a pot of beef bourguignon that seems to have wandered in from a 1980s sitcom.

In just about every interview with Caitlin Moran, Wolverhampton - her birthplace and the setting for Raised By Wolves - is referred to in a way that suggests it's a British shorthand for cultural sinkhole. But Della, who is fond of a pithy life lecture when she's not blithely ignoring the kids, explains, "We're not northern twats, we're not southern twats, we're midlands twats." If you were ever a teenage girl - or, better still, have one - this is refreshingly honest and occasionally laugh-out-loud stuff.

A full series for Caitlin and Caz Moran's semi-autobiographical tale of growing up in Wolverhampton in a house full of "babbies". It's sharp and funny from the start, with Germaine and her sisters foraging in the great outdoors while Yoko's first period is the talk of the family. Elsewhere, Grampy is clipping his toe hair, unleashing the Viennetta, and cranking up the Bonnie Tyler for a romantic night in. Rebekah Staton is a delight as mum Della, dishing out wisdom among the one-liners from her too-smart kids. Hilarious.

Raised by Wolves review

Perhaps the show's whimsical ambience has camouflaged its deeper merits, but it's beginning to feel richer and darker.

Raised by Wolves review - a heartwarming tale

This loving and funny sitcom set on a Wolverhampton council estate puts poverty porn documentaries such as Benefits Street to shame.

A full series for Caitlin and Caz Moran's semi-autobiographical tale of growing up in Wolverhampton in a house full of "babbies". It's sharp and funny from the start, with Germaine and her sisters foraging in the great outdoors while Yoko's first period is the talk of the family. Elsewhere, Grampy is clipping his toe hair and cranking up the Bonnie Tyler for a romantic night in. Rebekah Staton is a delight as mum Della, dishing out wisdom among the one-liners from her too-smart kids. Hilarious.

In conversation with Caitlin Moran

RadioTimes.com met the outspoken feminist on the set of her Channel 4 comedy - and she didn't disappoint.

Radio Times review

Caitlin Moran's modern-day sitcom inspired by her early life in Wolverhampton (co-written with her sister Caroline) finally arrives for a full series. And the Garry clan have lost none of their eccentricity, curiosity, honesty and ebullience since the Christmas 2013 pilot. Like all good comedies it creates its own world and language, though the closest analogy would be to a female-heavy Shameless (albeit where our heroine ends up with a column on The Times).

The Caitlin character is Germaine (Helen Monks), a spiky, idealistic dreamer dressed like a punked-up cross between Helena Bonham Carter and 1984-era Madonna (the pop star, not the mother of God).

There are other enjoyable turns from Rebekah Staton as forthright, smart, wisecracking mum Della, whose advice always seems spot-on, and Philip Jackson's Grampy. He's the only significant male, but his character is totally at home in this oestrogen-heavy working-class wonderland.

Raised By Wolves interview: class, comedy & sex

An interview with the cast and writers of Raised By Wolves.

Raised by Wolves: "Genuinely funny and unusual"

This odd, Wolverhampton-set sitcom full of human eccentricity is the series Kasia Delgado always hoped Caitlin Moran would make...

Caitlin Moran talks Raised By Wolves

Caitlin Moran's new sitcom Raised By Wolves starts on Channel 4 tonight. She talks to Giggle Beats about the inception of the show, working-class sitcoms, revisiting her childhood for the programme and more.