'Better dead than single': The dark comedy inspired by 'bleak' dating scene

Horrible snogs. Hideous outfits. Heinous crimes.

Between bursts of laughter, that's how real-life sisters Kat Sadler and Lizzie Davidson describe the new series of their BBC comedy Such Brave Girls.

"Being able to have schemes and do twisted things and [to] come from a female perspective, that was really exciting," says Sadler, who wrote the Bafta-winning dark comedy.

Such Brave Girls follows sisters Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Davidson) who, along with their mum Deb (Louise Brealey), are desperately trying to keep their heads above water financially and their relationships afloat.

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Despite the rave reviews for series one, the siblings were unsure how the series would be received. "We do talk about a lot of taboo subjects," Davidson says of the comedy, which addresses mental health, parental abandonment and abortion in a not-so-sensitive way.

In series one, we see Billie go to an abortion clinic dressed as a witch while another episode sees mum Deb tell Josie her "haunting presence" is dampening Deb's boyfriend's libido.

The series took home two Baftas – one for best scripted comedy and one for emerging talent: fiction for Sadler.

Sadler (right) says she feels like everyone's performance has "gone up a notch" this series - many of her scenes are with Davidson (left) and Louise Brealey (centre), who plays Deb [BBC/Various Artists Limited]

Approaching a follow-up was "nerve-wracking", Sadler admits, explaining how the two bronze awards on her bedside table now seem to loom over her. "I feel like they're judging me," she says.

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However, Davidson feels the success has helped them get away with more this time around and Sadler agrees, adding: "I've really put the characters through the ringer this year. It's more depressing, but maybe more funny."

'The funniest person in the world'

Davidson says the series is influenced by their upbringing: "Growing up in an all-woman household, it was just us two and Mum, I think that's the way we see life, like scheming in the bathroom."

Much of the action in the show takes place in the lavatory, with the women plotting to make money or manipulate their partners.

While their characters are cutting in the way they speak to each other, off-screen the sisters are far more earnest, with Sadler explaining how Davidson's off-hand comments have helped her work through plot points that she's been stuck on for months.

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Sadler adds that she feels lucky to have her sister in the show. "She's the funniest person in the world," she says.

Taken aback and slightly teary, Davidson explains how she'll read early drafts of the script from Sadler under her covers, laughing and jealous of her sister's talent.

"I hate her. I hate her. I wish it was me. It's so brilliant how nuanced the writing is," she says smiling.

After Sadler won her awards, her mother made Davidson a paper Bafta so she didn't feel left out [Lizzie Davidson]

The siblings' dynamic is not the only thing influencing the comedy, with Sadler explaining their mum will often send her ideas for plots. "She's really invested," Sadler says.

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Ahead of series one, she ran through the prospective storylines with her mum.

"It's not her, but it's definitely inspired by stories that happened to us. So I wanted her to be happy with it," Sadler adds.

"She signed off everything - she's got the darkest sense of humour of all of us."

'Worst nightmare'

Sadler says a lot of her writing is fuelled by the things she sees online and in the news, like the "bleak" dating scene.

In the new series, mum Deb says the girls are "better dead than single" - a sentiment that runs through the series as the sisters try to cling on to their relationships.

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Sadler says she became interested in the idea of being intentionally single, after seeing it all over her TikTok feed.

She feels this has become more common and adds that a lot of her friends are single.

One recent report found that the four most popular dating apps in the UK - Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and Grindr - had all lost UK users between May 2023 and May 2024.

The writer says that while there's lots of empowering things about being single, "it's also very lonely" and she wanted to satirise this idea in her show by having it be the girls' "worst nightmare."

Sadler says she sees a lot of stuff on social media about being single [BBC/Various Artists Limited/Vishal Sharma]

With the new series, Sadler wants to continue to "skewer" topical issues and taboo subjects. She says she's particularly proud of how they handled Billie's abortion storyline in series one.

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"I'm so sick of seeing stories about pregnancy and that maternal instinct immediately kicking," Sadler says, adding, "that's not reality for a lot of people. It's not how I feel."

'The truth of being disgusting'

The "most important" thing for Sadler was to keep complex women at the centre of the comedy series and to show how grotesque the women can be towards each other.

Many scenes in the series revolve around the siblings and their mother spewing vicious comments at each other.

"I think that we haven't seen it before, really, the truth of being disgusting and the way that we talk about each other."

You can watch Such Brave Girls on BBC Three and iPlayer on Thursday 3 July.

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