‘People often think I’m a bit of battle axe. There’s always an assumption that you must be a difficult battle axe because you’re a woman who’s got a plan.’ Whatever misconception people have of Sophie Willan, her plan couldn’t be going any better.
The second series of her Bafta-winning Alma’s Not Normal has been hailed as the comedy of the decade , which somehow doesn’t feel like high-praise enough. She’s also currently starring in the BBC ’s most successful drama of 2024 alongside David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell-Martin in Ludwig and she is by far the most exciting talent in Britain today. But as a Care Leaver, Sophie’s drive for success came when the Conservative Party came into power in 2010, cutting funding for welfare and mental health services, demonising anyone who relied on them.
That’s the motivation behind Alma’s Not Normal, the comedy-drama which will your heart with joy and break it in the blink of an eye. It follows Alma, an ambitious Boltonian with stars in her eyes and a fag in her hand, whose fragile mum Lin (played by Siobhan Finneran) struggles with addiction. Subsequently, after growing up in care, she’s raised by her formidable grandma Joan, who in series 2 is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Alma’s Not Normal could easily be the premise of a tragedy but it’s hopeful and astonishingly funny, based loosely on Sophie’s own experiences with the care system. ‘I really want to educate people on empathy,’ she says. ‘After .
