Background
Willan wrote the first draft around 2014 on the back of the austerity measures of the Cameron Government, that Willan says "felt really negative for welfare recipients, mental healthCast and characters
* Sophie Willan as Alma Nuthall – Alma is a working-class aspiring actress in her thirties who has recently been through a break-up. She spent some of her childhood in care and works as an escort, having left school without qualifications. * Jayde Adams as Leanne, Alma's best friend. * Siobhan Finneran as Lin Nuthall – Alma's mother Lin struggles with mental health issues and a heroin addiction that meant she was unable to look after Alma during childhood, and she has a troubled relationship with Alma in adulthood. * Lorraine Ashbourne as Joan Nuthall – Joan is Lin's mother and Alma's grandmother. She raised Alma as a child when Lin was unable to. Alma regularly visits Joan as an adult. * James Baxter as Anthony, Alma's ex-boyfriend. *Maizie Wickson as Young Alma * Nicholas Asbury as Jim * Dave Johns as Bill *Episodes
Pilot (2020)
Series 1 (2021)
Episode one is the pilot episode, renamed as Feng Suey.Reception
In her four star review of the pilot episode broadcast in 2020, Lucy Mangan in '' The Guardian'' praised the fine cast and the "swiftly and surely drawn characters" and commented on the episode's emotional undertow, that, with perfect timing, surfaces to punch the viewer in the stomach and leave them breathless with sorrow. The episode was summed up as a bleak, brilliant comedy that was far from ordinary. Writing in '' Chortle'', Steve Bennett praised the episode for the way that it introduced "a cast of intriguing, sympathetic characters we’d like to hear more from" praising them for being "complex, authentic people portrayed in a way we don’t usually see on television". He praised the "universally strong performances" of the cast and the humanity of the characters bringing lightness to what could have been a bleak set of subject matter. The '' Daily Mirror's'' Ian Hyland called it ‘'' Phoenix Nights'' meets '' Fleabag'', guided by the spirit of Victoria Wood’ adding that the pilot convinced him "that BBC2 has a massive gem on its hands". Ben Dowell of '' The Times'' said, ‘Willan's writing is skilled and clearly very personal...uplifting and strangely enchanting’.Awards
In April 2021, Willan won the Comedy Writer BAFTA for the pilot episode. The 2021 series won the award for best comedy programme at the Royal Television Society North West Awards. , - ! rowspan=2 scope="row" , 2021 , British Academy Television Craft Awards , Best Writer: Comedy , Sophie Willan , , , - , Royal Television Society Awards , Comedy Performance - Female , Sophie Willan , , , - ! rowspan=7 scope="row" , 2022 , Broadcast Awards , Best Comedy Programme , ''Alma's Not Normal'' , , , - , rowspan="3" ,References
External links
* * * {{British Comedy Guide, tv, almas_not_normal 2020 British television series debuts 2020s British sitcoms BBC high definition shows BBC television sitcoms English-language television shows Television shows set in Greater Manchester BAFTA winners (television series)