A host of female characters are rewriting the rules for women on television, and the latest issue of Drama Quarterly explores just how they're being brought to the small screen. Remember Cagney & Lacey, DI Jane Tennison and Buffy 'the Vampire Slayer' Summers? They were the vanguard to Orange is the New Black, Big Little Lies, The Handmaid's Tale, Borgen, Happy Valley.
For FremantleMedia director of global drama Sarah Doole, this is a sign the TV industry is finally catching up with audience tastes.
"Research shows women are in charge of the remote control until 21.30, but most of the iconic dramas you can think of focus on middle-aged white men," she says. "So what we are seeing is a new world order that reflects audience demands."
IMAGE /dramaquarterly.com Sarah Lancashire in Sally Wainwright's Happy Valley