The hen party is a rite of passage for every bride-to-be; that one last ‘hurrah’ with their beloved girlfriends before they tie the knot and their single life comes to an end. Always a memorable occasion, carnage is guaranteed this week as one woman’s celebrations are interrupted by the end of the world in Caroline Moran’s new BBC Two comedy, Henpocalypse!
The six-parter centers on demanding bride Zara (We Are Lady Parts’ Lucie Shorthouse) and her fellow working-class West Midlander ‘hens’: Chief bridesmaid Shelly (Cheaters’ Callie Cooke), conspiracy theorist beautician Veena (White Gold’s Lauren O’Rourke), one-woman disaster zone Jen (Landscapers’ Kate O’Flynn) and Zara’s formidable mother Bernadette (The Pact’s Elizabeth Berrington) as their hen-do in a remote cottage in Wales is thrown into chaos when an epidemic of ‘crab measles’ brings about the apocalypse.
Alongside the usual hen-do tensions, our hens must now fight for survival, armed with only their wits — and a carload of hen-do paraphernalia!
Here Lucie - aka ‘Bridezilla’ Zara - reveals more…
What appealed to you about Henpocalypse!?
"I remember reading Caz Moran’s script with a friend for my audition and we were laughing so much, saying: ‘We know these women, we ARE these women!’ Caz writes authentically for female voices, scripts that give us the licence to be silly and naughty and that explore the myriad of what it is to be a woman. It was liberating."
Can you set the scene for the comedy?
"These five working-class women from the West Midlands — Zara, Shelly, Veena, Jen and Zara’s mum Bernadette — head to Wales on a hen do to celebrate Zara's upcoming wedding. But the celebrations grind to a halt when an epidemic of crab measles brings about the end of the world and these women suddenly have to learn to be resourceful in order to survive."
How would you describe your character, Zara?
"Zara is 100% bridezilla! She's very 'me, me me'! When the apocalypse hits, she’s like: ‘Right, I know the end of the world is affecting everyone but it's affecting me the most.’ For Zara, it’s still very much her hen do — and she’s STILL getting married! There's a real sense of insecurity about Zara clinging onto this wedding and this ‘bride’ identity - life isn’t as rosy as she likes to think it is and you soon discover why getting hitched is so important to her."
What's Zara’s relationship like with the other hens?
"Zara and chief bridesmaid Shelly are like me and my own best friend; we’re opposites but we've known each other since we were four and have done everything together. With the others, in real life, a bride-to-be will invite all different women — from school, work and other places — onto the hen do but, once they’re all in a room, you wonder: ‘Are they all gonna get on?’ These five women are like the Spice Girls in that each one has their own identity within the group. Zara thinks she's Posh Spice — but she's most definitely Scary Spice!"
What weapons do the women use in their fight for survival?
"Because it’s a hen do, the women obviously have with them some ‘adult toys’ — and they haven’t brought them to Wales for nothing! So they basically use whatever they have at their disposal, which is a testament to how resourceful women can be. When we first held our ‘special’ spears we found it hilarious — but by the end of the shoot it was all perfectly normal."
How does the show represent the West Midlands?
"Henpocalypse is a love letter to the West Midlands, an under-represented territory on TV. Writer Caz is from Wolverhampton and understands the sense of identity that comes with being from the area, so it felt authentic. The show celebrates women being every facet of themselves; messy and passionate but also tenacious and strong."
What was it like filming in Wales?
"Wales was beautiful but very remote and the weather was awful but this all added to the idea of it being an apocalypse and us actors having to get on with things just as the characters had to. Caz actually wrote the show before the COVID-19 pandemic but all the hysteria, in relation to how the friends cope, mirrors so much of what happened in real life."
Did you reflect on how you’d cope in a real Henpocalypse?
"Oh, totally… and I realized I'd be terrible. What would my weapon of choice be? In episode six, something happens involving a pair of stiletto heels, so I’d choose that. I haven't really been on a raucous hen do in real life — so it was nice getting to live out one in the show!"
Henpocalypse! starts on Tuesday, August 15 at 10 pm on BBC Two, with all six episodes available as a box set on BBC iPlayer.
