Funny Woman season two
Equal parts charming and eye-opening
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The editorial unit
Despite its romanticisation in successive decades, the 1960s was far from kind to women. This is a stark actuality depicted with surprising candour in the second season of Funny Woman, Morwenna Banks’s adaptation of Nick Hornby’s best-selling book Funny Girl. Gemma Arterton is back as Sophie Straw, ie Blackpool girl Barbara Parker, discovering that fame is a duplicitous business.
This time around, Sophie is reduced to bawdy Carry On-esque productions in which her anatomy becomes little more than a chauvinistic punch line. Banks and director Oliver Parker are highly adept at depicting the sleaze and sexism of the era whilst being mindful not to partake in the same exploitation they’re critiquing (in contrast to, say, a series like Mad Men, which, for all its eminence, ultimately revelled in sexist transgressions).
In addition to being typecast, Sophie is yearning for her former colleague Dennis, with whom she had a fleeting flirtation in season one. Again, the oppressive milieu of the era prevents the star-crossed lovers from being able to openly express their affection for one another, as doing so would destroy Sophie’s career. As she reminds us, it’s always women who bear the brunt of the fallout.
Native Southeasterner Arterton is superb as Sophie, her bubbly Blackpool accent never faltering. She also shows a real adroitness for physical comedy this season, with a labyrinthine swing chair and a telephone cord unexpectedly proving the perfect props for her to exhibit her versatility as an actor. An appearance by Tim Key is another comedic highlight of the first episode, with the Alan Partridge star playing a hapless divorce lawyer who’s like David Brent if he passed the bar.
At times, the humour feels somewhat forced and clumsy, with clichéd gags falling painfully flat. But Funny Woman’s strengths lie in its ability to eschew revisionist wistfulness for the uglier aspects of swinging London, which, in combination with the delightful performances, makes it equal parts charming and eye-opening. Rather than a technicolour nostalgia-fest, the series reminds us of a pervasive truth: some men, it seems, cannot handle a funny woman.
Antonia Georgiou
Funny Woman season two is released on Sky on 6th September 2024.
Watch the trailer for Funny Woman season two here:
