Violent women are refreshing, says ‘Fleabag’ star

WATCHING violent women on television is “empowering”, a star BBC writer has said.

Phoebe Waller-bridge, who writes and stars in Fleabag, and wrote and produced the hit drama Killing Eve, said viewers were “exhausted” of seeing women being attacked but when the tables were turned it could be “refreshing”.

The actress and playwright also said that she feared being labelled a “bad feminist” when writing comedy.

Appearing on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One, Ms Waller-bridge was asked if she felt that Killing Eve had escaped the criticism that had been levelled at other shows for being too violent because it was written by and starred women.

She replied: “People are slightly exhausted by seeing women being brutalised on screen.

“We’re being allowed to see women on slabs the whole time and being beaten up and in some ways that’s important to see because it shows brutality against women. Actually, I think seeing women be violent – the flip side of that – there’s something instantly refreshing and oddly empowering.”

She added that there was “hardly any” blood in Killing Eve, the second series of which premiers next month, because BBC America bosses would not allow it to be too gruesome. “The challenge was to make it feel very violent without actually showing anything,” she said. The BBC has faced criticism over shows, including Luther with fans complaining that series five was too gruesome with numerous stabbings and dead bodies. The second series of Fleabag, which continues tonight on BBC One, has received international acclaim. Ms Waller-bridge, its co-creator, plays the central character, a sex-obsessed and witty young woman navigating her way through life in London.

She admitted that when she was writing the character she was concerned about being perceived as a “bad feminist” because “you’re not supposed to say” things that her character does, such as admitting she would trade five years of her life for the perfect body.

“A lot of women – and probably some men as well – feel like they could fall into a trap of being a bad feminist,” she said.