Hannah Waddingham

The invincibility of menopausal women in TV drama

From our UK edition

Ride or Die began with a typical day for a fiftysomething woman in a TV drama. Having assassinated a Russian oligarch in an Alpine mountain resort, Judith (Hannah Waddingham) skied away with Olympian speed, effortlessly evading capture by the many goons who pursued her, right until they crashed into trees. Back on solid ground, she went into a bar where she beat all the blokes in drinking games, before pulling a hunky young barman who was heartbroken the following morning when she made it clear that this was merely a one-night stand. Then, zooming home in a sporty Merc, she still found time to call her friend Debbie in London with the assurance that ‘I’ll be back for book club’.

Should we cheer the return of Ted Lasso? 

Lovers of Jason Sudeikis, British soccer — that’ll be “football” to you — and undemanding, if surprisingly curse-laden, comedy-dramas, rejoice. The third season of Sudeikis’s hit comedy Ted Lasso ended last year, with what seemed to be a fairly definitive conclusion to the show. The eponymous Ted returned home after seeing his beloved AFC Richmond come second in the league, the club’s dastardly former owner Rupert (Anthony Head, the show’s MVP in my opinion) was defeated and comic sidekick-turned-villain Nate “the Great” was redeemed and welcomed back into the fold. There were, admittedly, a few curveballs and loose ends chucked in there, but it was hard to see where a fourth season could go.   It now looks as if we will find out.

ted lasso