Comedian Katherine Ryan says there should be more television roles portraying “complex women”.
The stand-up comic, 36, has written and is starring in The Duchess, a Netflix sitcom about a single mother living in north London inspired by her own life.
Ryan told Insider: “[The industry] is changing and I am inspired to see a lot of networks taking a chance now and taking on scripts with complex women. But we all need to be conscious about creating more of them.”
The comedian, who has appeared on Mock The Week and Never Mind The Buzzcocks has a daughter Violet, 10. She said she created the sitcom, which is in the early stages of production, because she wanted to see more women like her on screen. “I always thought writing about what you know was cheating,” she said. “But then someone told me, ‘No, no all writers write about what they know, they just change a few details so it is fiction.’
“[Being a single mother in London] is what I know most about in the world. I still don’t see myself represented much on television. Mothers on television, they are often sad or they don’t particularly like being mothers. This is a celebration. It is not a sadcom.”
The Canadian star moved to London in 2008 and used to live in Crouch End, but recently moved further out because she wanted Violet to have “as much of a childhood as possible”. She said: “Violet, she really likes ponies. And I am getting old and I have lots of dogs. I loved Crouch End, but we have a garden now.”
Ryan was speaking as she launched Barclaycard’s Summertime Blunders campaign, which gives consumers advice about spending abroad.
The Duchess will air on Netflix.
