Eventually, she changed the title to the less politically-charged Girlfriends, but it doesn’t diminish the fact that a TV drama about three women well into middle age is highly unusual.
“Girlfriends is different from my other work because I’m unashamedly putting women of a certain age centre stage,” explains Kay, 66, of her new six-part ITV series.
“We haven’t seen that on British TV – they’re not just someone’s wife, girlfriend or partner, and that’s refreshing.” Kay, of course, is the prolific writer of Love, Lies & Records, as well as Fat Friends, The Syndicate and In the Club.
Zoë Wanamaker, Phyllis Logan and Miranda Richardson star as friends who come to rely on each other through hardship.
Logan’s Linda is widowed in the first few scenes when her husband Micky (Steve Evets) disappears over the side of a cruise liner. At a loss and suddenly facing financial problems, Linda turns to her friends for support, only they’re going through their own traumas.
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Gail (Wanamaker) is a single mum to a troublesome adult son Tom (Matthew Lewis) and is also expected to look after her grandson and mother Edna (Valerie Lilley).
“Gail is an incredibly lovable character,” says Kay.
“In many ways, she’s the opposite of Sue – she’s selfless and she’s got humanity and great warmth, and soon we’ll see that as we go on a journey with her.”
Sue (Richardson) is a features editor of a bridal magazine, but Sue’s world comes undone when her boyfriend John (Anthony Head) tells her she’s too old for the job.
Miranda says, “I like her sense of drama – it was fun. And she’s self-dramatising, looking at herself going through all that stuff.”
Sue has fallen out of touch with Linda and Gail, but the trio rediscover their need for each other at Micky’s wake.
“When I watched it back, I thought Sue’s just talking about herself again,” laughs Miranda. “The scene has layers and layers, so we do see the strength and support between the women.”
Along with Anthony Head, support comes from his daughter Daisy who plays Ruby, Linda’s daughter, and from Chris Fountain as Linda’s son Ryan. Paula Wilcox stars as boutique owner Carole.
But the trio of venerable actresses dominate the plot, and Kay says their stories unfold in a way that’s unexpected. Now that the voices of middle-aged women are being heard – think Sarah Lancashire in Happy Valley, Emily Watson in Apple Tree Yard – Kay is turning the spotlight on women often overlooked in TV drama.
“I wanted to write a story about women who had lives and were looking after grandchildren and mothers and things like that. I needed a TV network to take a gamble,” says Kay.
“It wasn’t a gamble to me because I know their lives are multifaceted and colourful.”
Girlfriends, Wednesday, 9pm, ITV