Sophie Willan’s fabulous Boltonian is back – but her life has taken a heartbreaking turn. Even with added devastation, this is TV at its most beautiful, furious and hilarious
Last time we encountered Alma Nuttall – the conscientiously “fabulous” protagonist of Alma’s Not Normal – she was about to swap her frequently grim job as an escort for a six-month tour with an inclusive theatre company, having qualified for a place on account of her experiences in the care system. She’d been nailbitingly close to passing up the opportunity altogether: guilt-tripped by her self-pitying heroin addict mother and almost charmed back into submission by her arse of an ex-boyfriend, Alma was on the verge of staying put in her Bolton flat, complete with Julie Walters shrine and felt-tip-rendered plan for Hollywood domination. That didn’t happen, thankfully. Due to a combination of her traumatic upbringing and whimsical nature, there are few characters easier to root for than this sweetly garrulous wannabe.
As the sitcom returns, fingers remain tightly crossed. Alma is an obvious proxy for her creator, the Boltonian comedian Sophie Willan, who also spent time in care due to her mother’s heroin addiction, and has also been an escort. Yet Willan no longer need fantasise about making it. Since Alma’s Not Normal first aired in 2021, she has won Baftas, also appeared in Time and, Ludwig, and proved to be a delightfully daffy addition to the Taskmaster lineup. It’s testament to how vividly Willan has established Alma’s world – and to the likability of the 36-year-old herself – that I was desperately hoping our protagonist might enjoy a similar trajectory.
Alma’s Not Normal is on BBC Two and iPlayer.
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