Amanda Brotchie is good at giving actors room when a programme has several kinds of story to tell. We recommend Riot Women for that care, with a reservation about writing that sometimes explains what the performances have already made clear.
Fi1m perspective
In Riot Women (2025), forming a punk band does not clear away the middle-aged women's other troubles. Music, humour and distress all need room, and the direction generally makes those changes feel right for the characters. Amanda Brotchie gives the performers time to make each difficulty feel personal, rather than another subject the programme has decided to discuss. We were moved by Joanna Scanlan and Rosalie Craig because their performances keep those difficulties specific. It is good directing, especially when the writing gets impatient and starts explaining what they have already shown us.
For the comedy Lowdown (2010–2012), Brotchie was a co-creator alongside Adam Zwar, as well as a writer and director. The later move from Girlboss (2017) to Picnic at Hanging Rock (2018) took her from comedy into period drama, followed by Gentleman Jack (2022). Those are different demands, but the comedy background matters to our reading of Riot Women. Its humour allows the women some pleasure without suggesting that their problems have been settled.
For Doctor Who (2025), she assembled a look book because she wanted to avoid a generic appearance. Her episodes were Lux and The Well, with the former bringing humour, action and science fiction together. That combination makes sense beside Riot Women: we value the willingness to let people be funny while their troubles remain unresolved.
The writing in Riot Women does risk giving its women more trouble than the series can properly consider. There are stretches when an explanation is added after a performance has made it unnecessary. Sally Wainwright shares the directing, and credit for the programme's energy and its patience with actors belongs to both of them. Start here for Scanlan and Craig, with some tolerance for the script explaining a point long after they have made it.
Biography
Amanda Brotchie (20 February 1964 – 19 December 2025) was an Australian television director, writer, producer and linguist. She held a PhD in linguistics from the University of Melbourne and conducted research in Vanuatu.
She co-created and produced the series Lowdown (2010–2012) and directed episodes of Riot Women (2025), Doctor Who (2025), Renegade Nell (2024), Gentleman Jack (2022), Picnic at Hanging Rock (2018), Girlboss (2017) and A Place to Call Home (2013). She was married to actor and writer Adam Zwar.
