This Kay classic is superb news!

THE announcement that Kay Mellor’s new series was about three women over 50 actually appeared on the News At Ten. Yes, THE flipping News At Ten!

Now that tells you that a primetime show where the female leads aren’t quite spring chickens is as rare as, er, hen’s teeth.

So Girlfriends has a lot riding on it even before episode one on ITV1 this Wednesday. And after seeing a secret preview I can tell you not only does it live up to the hype and pressure. It surpasses it.

Trailers for the show sort of beg the question “whether you can get your mojo back when you’re the wrong side of 50 and your life has kind of turned to s**t”.

But at the heart of the series is a topic that’s really the most taboo of TV subjects: Post-menopausal women being seen as vital and relevant.

Launching just as our nation marks 100 years since women won the right to vote, Mellor’s new show will be key in helping change the archaic ageism and sexism that’s still rife in most females’ day-to-day lives and especially on primetime TV.

The show being such a newsworthy topic proved in itself that we still have a long way to go to be more inclusive to women aged over 50.

Not only does Girlfriends prove women and talent have no “best before” date, but its beauty is in showing their lives as rough, real and, at times, an absolute riot.

Theres no airbrushing here – it is raw, touching, funny and absolutely fascinating. Just like grown-up woman are.

We catch up with three friends as they find their lives hitting the skids as they head towards 60.

Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan is fabulously believable as put-upon Linda, whose husband’s funeral reunites her with her two oldest pals. But was Micky’s sudden death an accident or murder?

Then there’s outwardly successful Sue (Miranda Richardson) as features editor of a glam bridal magazine. When she starts including content for the mature bride her boss and secret lover John (the brilliant Anthony Head) is less than impressed.

I won’t spoil what comes next but it’s fair to say that with this character, Miranda turns in one of her finest performances ever. And with her global back catalogue, that tells you just how amazing she is in 300 Years of French and Saunders (Christmas Day, BBC1) was a crowdpleasing blend of old and new sketches. Highlights included a send-up of Gogglebox eccentrics Giles and Mary. It ended with Jen as Mary blending, chameleon-like, into their famous armchair that already matches the wallpaper behind it.

Murder?

Genius. And there was a neat side-swipe at the Kardashians with Dawn mocking Kim, sporting enormous prosthetic buttocks. She simpered “Oh my God, I’m so pretty” – before catching a glimpse of her humongous derrière and screaming in horror: “Look at this. Playing against her usual type is firecracker Zoe Wanamaker as dowdy Gail, a cash- strapped lollipop lady with a petty criminal son, dependent son and vulnerable mother.

She’s on the verge of getting a divorce and battling money worries.

No one’s really having a good time as they find themselves in the battle of the middle ages but a fightback is definitely on the cards.

This is Mellor’s self-confessed “passion project” and a story she admits she’s been “dying to tell”.

And it shows as the dialogue, direction and performances burn up the screen.

As ever, there’s wit and wisdom in every line. Defiant Gail urges her mates to “strike the word old from our vocabularies... we’ve got knowledge – like never take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night”.

Episode one is packed with characters you’ll instantly want to know more about as we play “meet the families”.

And with several sub-plots already playing out, this six-parter has all the signs of becoming a classic that could run for years.

Do not miss it. my huge ass!” Then Jen and Dawn headed for the set of Poldark to play annoying extras desperate to spot hunky leading man Aidan Turner. It sent up the now infamous scything scene that put the show – and shirtlessAidan – on the map. Jack Farthing, who plays evil George Warleggan, and Eleanor Tomlinson (Demelza) hammed it up as miffed thespians insisting the whole cast had “done a lot of good work” Eleanor wailed: “I’ve had to work four years without mascara.” This one-off special delivered a nice balance of the nostalgic and the topical. Come back soon, girls. You’ll always be the Queens of Comedy in my heart.