Such Brave Girls is a British sitcom about a dysfunctional single-parent family created by Kat Sadler for BBC Three. It stars Sadler, with Louise Brealey and Lizzie Davidson. It is directed by Simon Bird and produced by A24 with Various Artists Ltd. The first series was released on 22 November 2023. The second series ran from 3 July 2025 with all episodes released on BBC iPlayer.[1]
Sadler has described the series as being a “family sitcom about trauma”, but that it’s also about “being narcissistic losers who are pathetically obsessed with what people think about us.”[2]
Synopsis
Deb, a forty-something single mother, is trying to rebuild her life with her boyfriend Dev. Her two adult daughters, Josie and Billie, still live with her and complicate her life.
The older sibling, Josie, is navigating mental illness and her sexual identity. Her young sister, Billie, is in toxic relationships.
Deb invites Dev to her house for the first time, and orders Josie and Billie to behave happier for him. Billie struggles with her fracturing relationship with on-and-off boyfriend Nicky, bleaching her hair to look more like his current girlfriend, Bianca.
2
2
"Such Unavailable Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
22November2023(2023-11-22)
Deb visits Dev's house, and learns that he is a widower; Deb lies and claims that her ex-husband had died too, bringing her and Dev closer. Josie attempts to break up with her boyfriend Seb and initiate a relationship with lesbian bartender Sid; both are unsuccessful. Billie is back together with Nicky, but finds him too unwilling to commit to their relationship. The episode ends with Billie learning that she is pregnant.
3
3
"Such Birthday Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
22November2023(2023-11-22)
The family goes out to a birthday dinner for Josie, which she prolongs in order to avoid giving a handjob to Seb. Billie gets an abortion; Nicky walks out on her once Josie mentions this to him. In revenge, Billie outs Josie as a lesbian to Seb, but this has no effect.
4
4
"Such Outdoorsy Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
22November2023(2023-11-22)
The family goes on an outdoor expedition. Dev remains distraught over the death of his previous wife, leading Deb to believe she's acting as a replacement for her. Josie attempts to get back to her art, but suffers from debilitating writer's block. After the two daughters visit a remote church, Billie dabbles with religion as a coping mechanism for Nicky's exit.
5
5
"Such Friendly Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
22November2023(2023-11-22)
After visiting their dying grandmother in the hospital, Josie and Billie cope by going to a nightclub. After the two do cocaine in the bathroom, Josie decides to try again with Sid, while Billie plots revenge on Bianca. When Dev suggests the daughters try therapy, Deb is offended by the suggestion; insisting that having a man in their life is enough. On this advice, Seb has moved in with the family.
6
6
"Such Daddy's Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
22November2023(2023-11-22)
The family visits the funeral of the girls' grandmother, where the two daughters hope to meet their absent father. After their father doesn't show up, Dev (who still believes he's dead) asks to see his tombstone. Meanwhile, Billie goes to Manchester for the opening of Nicky's ice bar. In Manchester, she runs into Bianca again. At the end of the episode, Dev unwittingly reveals that the girls' father had been present at the funeral after all, but ran away in fear after seeing his daughters there.
Series 2
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original release date
7
1
"Such Kept Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
3July2025(2025-07-03)
8
2
"Such Faithful Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
3July2025(2025-07-03)
9
3
"Such Mummy's Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
3July2025(2025-07-03)
10
4
"Such Wily Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
3July2025(2025-07-03)
11
5
"Such Forgiving Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
3July2025(2025-07-03)
12
6
"Such Desperate Girls"
Simon Bird
Kat Sadler
3July2025(2025-07-03)
Production
The series was created and written by Kat Sadler,who also stars. It is directed by Simon Bird and was produced for Various Artists Ltd and A24 by Catherine Gosling Fuller,with Phil Clarke,Jack Bayles,Piers Wenger and Sadler as executive producers.[3] It was commissioned after a successful 2021 pilot episode.[4]
Sadler appears in the series alongside her real life sister Lizzie Davidson,and they play sisters on the show. Sadler told The Times that Davidson read the drafts and acted as her “sense check …telling me if I’ve gone too mad”. She described their characters of Josie and Billie as “not us,but they are certainly inspired by bits of us …we have taken some of the worst aspects of ourselves”. She said that their own mother had seen it “and laughed in all the right places”.[5]
Bird wrote to Sadler asking to direct the series after watching the 2021 pilot episode,with Sadler and Bird agreeing to keep the series as a comedy rather than veer towards comedy-drama.[6]
A second six-part series was commissioned in May 2024.[7]
The first series started airing in the United Kingdom on BBC Three on 22 November 2023,with all episodes released on BBC iPlayer the same day.[10] It was available in the United States on Hulu from 15 December 2023.[11]
The second series started airing in the United Kingdom on BBC Three on 3 July 2025,with all episodes released on BBC iPlayer the same day.[12]
Reception
Critical reception
Lucy Mangan in The Guardian described the show as “properly brutal and properly funny”,saying that she found “particular joy in seeing a woman-led,female-written show that doesn’t pull its punches”. She added that it was “brave –singular,fresh,scabrous and unflinching –but still –or,rather,as a result –hilarious.”[13] Steve Bennett for Chortle gave the show four stars commenting that “elements of pure sitcom”combine with an “earthy,nuanced realism of the dysfunctional characters”with Sadler’s “unique comic sensibilities”combining with an “admirable reluctance to take serious issues seriously”which “makes for an impressively different series.”[14]
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