FAMILY AFFAIRS

Kat Sadler, writer and star of BBC Three's Bafta-winning 'Such Brave Girls', tells Isobel Lewis about how the black comedy is inspired by life with her own sister and mum

- Isobel Lewis

Kat Sadler has her head in her hands. She is sitting across from me, recalling the moment she won a Bafta for her painfully dark BBC Three comedy Such Brave Girls. "I wish I was one of those people who practise their speech in the shower," the 31-year-old laments, visibly cringing. “You know, people do that. I wish I'd done that or thought about what I was gonna say. I got there, and I was like, I've got fucking nothing." Dressed in a suit as she picked up the award for Best Scripted Comedy alongside her sister and co-star Lizzie Davidson, Sadler did seem like a deer in headlights. Struggling to remember everyone to thank, she eventually babbled: "I guess, writing's really hard and this is really nice." Talking about it a year on, she groans. "It's a car crash. What the hell was I saying?" Given the rave reviews the A24-produced Such Brave Girls received from critics and fans alike when it arrived in 2023 The Guardian called the show a "malevolent delight" - it might seem surprising that the former BBC Comedy joke writer wasn't more prepared for the possibility of the show winning the highly regarded prize. But as I speak to Sadler a few weeks before season two launches, it's clear that her self-deprecation is deeply felt. She is fidgety and talks quickly, unassumingly. Her brows are expressive, and near-permanently furrowed.