Well, when I was going through it, I rarely saw women like me on TV . If I did, they would be the butt of jokes written by men... so I wrote my own Julie Graham on her lockdown drama
Actress Julie Graham reveals why she used lockdown
It had bothered her for years, so when lockdown came along it gave Julie Graham the opportunity to do something about it – to address the way menopausal women are portrayed on our screens.
The Shetland, Bletchley Circle and Benidorm star has written a nine-part comedy series, completely filmed, produced and released during the past three months.
It tackles head-on a subject that for many used to be taboo – and that Julie says is still hugely understated on stage and screen today. “That is one of the reasons I wrote it,” said the 54-year-old from Irvine.
“When I was going through menopause I didn’t often see it being reflected in TV, film or theatre. Any time it was, usually the character was the butt of a joke or a figure of ridicule, written by a male writer.
“I got fed up with it. This is a demographic that is huge but very under-represented. We are half the population and if you live long enough you will go through it, so I decided it was time to shine a spotlight on it and comedy is a great way to put a point across without sounding educational or preachy.
“I also wanted to create parts for older women. I’ve been lucky with work but for a lot of women actors my age the work does tail off to an extent. I heard myself moaning too many times about there not being enough jobs for older women, so I decided to shut up and write something.”
Mum-of-two Julie had been playing around with the idea in conjunction with a production company for a year, with a view to knocking it into shape and approaching broadcasters with the concept when ready.
But, when lockdown happened, Julie’s producer decided there was no time like the present and said they should film it themselves – now. “He felt it was a waste of time downing tools and sitting around when we could be doing something proactive, so he came up with the mad idea of me writing nine 10-minute episodes and filming in lockdown.
“We had three great producers and I’d first worked with the director, Robin Sheppard, 20 years ago on At Home With The Braithwaites, so I really trusted her. She got the floor plans of everyone’s houses, had camera equipment delivered to our homes, then sent us idiot boards explaining what to do – where to stand and where to put the camera.
“It was quite daunting at first, but my kids and Davy, my husband, helped and it became a cottage industry by the end.”
Julie assembled an impressive cast to star in the online drama, called Dun Breedin’, alongside her,
‘ I wanted to created parts for older women