Riding a creaky old bike uphill in the direction of the job center, panting and sighing.
While it may not be quite as elegant as ET on two wheels, Sophie Willan’s sitcom Alma’s Not Normal immediately established a bond with a new viewership with its opening sequence, which introduced the show’s title character.
More than four years have passed since Willan’s semi-autobiographical first series cheered us up during the dark days of lockdown. Now back is the effervescent Alma (Willan), a budding Bolton working-class actress whose mother Lin (Siobhan Finneran) is battling mental health concerns and heroin addiction.
The idea may sound depressing to those who are unfamiliar with it, but it’s not at all. Though humor is constantly at the forefront, pathos is never far behind.
In the much-awaited second season, Alma and her best friend Leanne (Jayde Adams) are looking for work, fun, and sex after Alma tried her hand at being an escort and a sandwich “artiste” at SubNGo in the first season. However, once Alma’s grandmother Joan (Lorraine Ashbourne) learns she has cancer, the disease also hangs heavy this time.
