Love & laughter

Gemma Arterton plays a 1960s beauty queen who dreams of becoming a comedy star

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NEW COMEDY DRAMA

Funny Woman

Thu, 9pm, Sky Max & Sky Showcase (box set, Sky Box Sets/NOW)

When bestselling author Nick Hornby’s novel Funny Girl was published in 2014, it shone a light on the challenges of being a woman in the exciting but often class-ridden and sexist world of 1960s TV comedy. And among those immediately captivated by the book’s spirited heroine Barbara Parker was actor Gemma Arterton.

‘I read it and loved the character. There’s something about Barbara that I just connected with – her sense of humour and what she comes up against,’ Arterton reveals to TV&Satellite Week.

Arterton tried to buy the TV rights for her production company, only to find they’d already been sold. Then, by chance a few years later, she was approached and asked if she would play Barbara on screen.

This week, she finally takes centre stage in Sky’s comedy drama, renamed Funny Woman, and adapted by comedian Morwenna Banks, who also co-stars in the six-parter.