The female Peaky Blinders: Why BBC drama Dope Girls should be the one thing you watch this weekend

Before you waste any more time searching for something to watch this weekend, let us introduce you to Dope Girls. It’s the brilliant new women-led drama coming to BBC One – let’s call it the female Peaky Blinders – and it’s the one thing you really should be watching.

Why are we calling it the female Peaky Blinders? Well, the series takes us to Soho in 1918 - the tumultuous period following World War 1 - where the illicit underground clubland scene is expanding and women are exploring previously unimaginable opportunities on either side of the law. At the centre of it all is Kate Galloway (Julianne Nicholson), a single mother who launches a nightclub and embraces a life of criminal activities.

There’s sex, drugs, violence – and any show that’s got women at the heart of it is worth watching in our books. Here’s everything you need to know as the show arrives on our screens...

What is Dope Girls about?

The six-part drama picks up at the end of World War One. Britain is celebrating the Armistice on the streets of London and men are returning from the front expecting to rejoin society and pick up where they left off. Only, the war has changed women; it’s empowered them and they’re reluctant to give up the financial independence they've gained and simply return to the kitchen.

At the centre of the drama is two trailblazing women: Kate Galloway (Julianne Nicholson), a single mother who sets up a nightclub and embraces a criminal lifestyle in the hopes of providing for her young daughter, and Violet Davies (Eliza Scanlen), a member of one of the first wave of female officers permitted to join the Metropolitan Police who’s assigned to go undercover and investigate the illicit world of underground Soho nightclubs.

This is where we're introduced to Billie Cassidy (Umi Myers) a dazzling bohemian dancer, whose life is irrevocably changed by Kate’s arrival. Myers has described the series as depicting women “fighting against the constraints that they’re in and trying to succeed in a space where they haven’t before.

“They were women who set up these nightclubs or were part of criminal gangs and that’s missing when we talk about female history,” she told The Standard.

The series has been called "the new Killing Eve" and the "spiritual successor" to Peaky Blinders and given it's landed the BBC's prime Saturday night slot that previously played host to the likes of Taboo and Killing Eve, the BBC have clearly got their money on it being a major hit.

Jane Tranter from Bad Wolf Productions, the production company behind the show, certainly believes so. "It's a great slot. I think Dope Girls has a bit of Killing Eve and a bit of Taboo in it, there is great narrative but it's a bit different - and it's highly bingeable," she told The Mirror.

"You get to the end of the episode, they've got great hooks - you want to know what's going to happen next."

Who's starring in Dope Girls?

The cast of Dope Girls includes:

• Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown)
• Eilidh Fisher (The Power)
• Eliza Scanlen (Little Women)
• Umi Myers (Bob Marley: One Love)
• Michael Duke (Get Up Stand Up)
• Ian Bonar (I May Destroy You)
• Dustin Demri-Burns (Slow Horses)
• Geraldine James (Silo)
• Nabhaan Rizwan (Informer)
• Priya Kansara (Polite Society)
• Jordan Kouamé (Malpractice)
• Will Keen (His Dark Materials)
• Sebastian Croft (Heartstopper)

How can I watch Dope Girls?

Dope Girls will air on BBC One from 9.15pm on Saturday 22nd February. All episodes will also be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Saturday 22nd February.

Don't have Paramount+? Plans start from £4.99 a month and you can enjoy seven days free right now if you want a little taster of what's there. After that, the monthly subscription will automatically kick in, so make sure to cancel before that if you don't want to be charged.

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