The Change (TV series)

The Change is a 2023 British comedy drama series starring, written and created by Bridget Christie for Channel 4. Made by Expectation Entertainment and directed by Al Campbell, the six-part series is produced by Lisa Mitchell, and executive produced by Christie, Nerys Evans and Morwenna Gordon. Joining Christie in the cast are Liza Tarbuck, Omid Djalili, Paul Whitehouse, Monica Dolan and Jim Howick. It was renewed for a second series in May 2024.

The show's end credits music is Hares on the Mountain performed by Shirley Collins and Ian Kearey.

Synopsis
Linda (Christie) has an existential crisis at age 50 after being informed she has started the menopause. She finds her old Triumph motorcycle and goes on a pilgrimage around her old haunts in Gloucestershire's Forest of Dean.

Cast

 * Bridget Christie as Linda
 * Monica Dolan as Carmel
 * Susan Lynch as Agnes
 * Jim Howick as Verderer
 * Omid Djalili as Steve
 * Liza Tarbuck as Siobhain
 * Tanya Moodie as Joy
 * Paul Whitehouse as Tony
 * Jerome Flynn as William (Pig Man)
 * Sonny Charlton as Ryan
 * Rich Keeble as Trevor
 * Nicholas A. Newman as Jerry

Production
The show was announced as commissioned in March 2022, produced by Lisa Mitchell, and executive produced by Bridget Christie, Nerys Evans and Morwenna Gordon. In July 2022 it was revealed that the series has started filming and that Howick, Djalili, Whitehouse, Tarbuck and Dolan had joined the cast. Later, Susan Lynch was revealed to have joined the cast as an Eel sister. Filming took place on location in the Forest of Dean. Christie was herself brought up in Gloucestershire near the Forest of Dean and had in 2021 suffered some of the symptoms explored in the series.

A second series was confirmed in May 2024 with filming scheduled for later that year.

Broadcast
The series began airing on Channel 4 on 21 June 2023.

Critical reception
The Evening Standard awarded the show four stars out of five, calling it "joyful" and observing that "[while] it is cutting both in its humour and its astute social commentary, it is also immensely warm, grounded in familial community and nostalgic in a way that is hard to define." The Guardian also gave four stars out of five, declaring it "like nothing else on TV" and identifying Christie's protagonist as "the role model we’ve all been waiting for.". Comedy website Chortle also gave it four stars, calling it 'sardonic yet surreal'

The Guardian subsequently reviewed the final episode of the first series as "gorgeous", "life-affirming", and "the most profound finale of the year."

Accolades
In February 2024, the series was nominated at the Broadcast Awards in the Best Comedy Programme category. That month, it was also nominated in the Best TV Show category at the Chortle Awards. Christie was nominated for Best Writer - Comedy at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards. In March 2024, Christie was nominated in the Female performance in a comedy programme category at the 2024 British Academy Television Awards.