Alma’s Not Normal’s Sophie Willan: ‘Most people have had some form of mental health issues in their families’

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Willan points to Aisling Bea’s This Way Up, Daisy Haggard’s Back to Life and non-binary comic Mae Martin’s Feel Good, adding: “I don’t know if before Fleabag you would have got as much confidence in women telling their one-woman story.” But even compared with those series, the struggles presented in Willan’s work are particularly heavy. “Things can get really dark… those female relationships in families are complicated, but laughter’s what connects us all.” open image in gallery Lin and Alma In one scene, we see Joan discuss the intergenerational effects of poverty and how dauntingly inescapable it all feels. There’s talk of setting up a production company with poet Lemn Sissay, who also came through the care system – albeit from a “very different background”. “I hope that care leavers love it and think: ‘Yes, I see elements of me there and I’m alright.’” Alma’s Not Normal begins Monday at 10pm on BBC Two