If you're in the throes of menopause and feel like you're drowning in endless to-do lists, drop everything and watch The Change - it could literally change your life. Even if you aren't menopausal, watch it anyway.
If there's one thing I need to come out of 2025, it's that every woman watches Channel 4 comedy-drama, The Change. Created and written by Bridget Christie and filmed on location in the ethereal Forest of Dean and Chepstow, the indomitable menopause drama is actually about far more than just the menopause.
With series 1 airing in 2023, the second outing is airing now - I wouldn't bother waiting for each weekly episode, just go straight to Channel 4 and binge all six episodes at once.
Taking on unequal domestic labour and the inevitable burnout, misogyny, climate change and political crisis, all wrapped up with a folky, pagan bow, the themes come hard and fast - but all land with a perfect bullseye. For a six-episode series of half an hour episodes, that's quite the feat.
You don't even need to be a menopausal woman to tune in, although the show will speak to you like it's stood in front of you screaming your name if you are, such is the level you'll be connected to it and feel seen by it. Everyone can get something out this powerhouse show.
Christie's downtrodden Linda from Swindon leaves her husband and family behind when menopause and the invisibility of her existence become too much, and heads to the Forest of Dean for the most compelling journey of self-discovery.
Most importantly for me, it's the only show I've ever seen that attempts to change any narrative around menopause and reframe what is undoubtedly a physical and emotional sucker punch experience for most women, into something that's actually positive.
Yes, the women of the series have hot flushes, mood swings and can often be heard waxing lyrical about vaginal dryness, but they also want to celebrate and cherish this transition, and see it like any other rite of passage - fertility and childbirth have long had their own festivals and Saints, why shouldn't that era of life coming to a close be marked in an equally joyous way?
The Change does just this - reclaims the local Eel festival that typically encompasses male imagery and general maleness, to instead empower all women going through life's transitions.
From the young girls going through puberty, to women like Linda going through menopause, everyone is included and honoured. "May all your transitions be joyful!" the women chant, a phrase that Linda gets tattooed on her arm and which has become my new mantra.
The show also does an incredible job of challenging other non-social norms - child free women, unmarried women, and women's choices - the way women dress and derogatory terms used such as "mutton dressed as lamb" used to keep us in our place, is a classic example.
These hurtful words are likely to be carelessly shouted by a man who probably hasn't washed for a decade and who smells of stale cider and misogyny. But back to celebrating our menopause transitions as something worthwhile, it's always been a stage in my life I have been led to fear.
As a child, my mum and her friends would talk about it in hushed tones, clearly fearful of it themselves. Mum would also feed me stories of women in their finest party wear going red from head to toe with no warning, and proceeding to cause an embarrassing tsunami with their ensuing hot flush sweat in the midst of an event.
I once heard another male relative refer to the menopause as the time "women stop bleeding and go flipping nuts," and promptly imagined myself walking around as a perfectly functioning human one day, and finding myself institutionalised the next, for no reason other than my periods had stopped. No wonder I found the concept terrifying.
And while hot flushes happen and mental health issues can take over during the transition, there's support available to manage symptoms if you're signposted in the right direction, although this is woefully unlikely to happen. Also, see above for unfair and untrue tropes being passed down through male generations that do nothing to improve menopause outcomes for women *rolls eyes until they disappear into the back of my head*.
Similarly, mental health issues are likely compounded by the burden of raising teenagers, running a household, thinking for everyone and living the life of a domestic slave with no chance to stop and get off the carousel of unfairly distributed gender norms c**p. Who's doing anything about that, eh?
Although Bridget Christie has said she doesn't think the show makes her a feminist icon, I entirely disagree. Her words, powerful imagery and gentle but oh-so-touching humour have made me re-think my approach to menopause entirely, and that's quite something.
I want to start a movement. I want to bring together all the menopausal women and march to celebrate our midlife experiences. "Je suis Linda!" we'll scream as we erect a Linda statue in every town centre and project her image into the night skies for all to worship.
Because we are all Linda - as the character says, every woman will go through the menopause and every man in their lives will witness their experience. And Linda has already changed my narrative - she can change is for all the women. Just start by watching the series, and we'll march forth when you've all seen every glorious moment there is of it to behold.
The Change series 1 and 2 are currently available in their entirety on Channel 4.
