Happy Valley writer says she has been sidelined due to her gender

By The Newsroom
Published 25th Jul 2017, 10:36 BST
Updated 11th Sep 2017, 12:42 BST
Date: 20th January 2017. Picture James Hardisty. BAFTA winning screenwriter Sally Wainwright receiving an honorary degree from the University of York.Date: 20th January 2017. Picture James Hardisty. BAFTA winning screenwriter Sally Wainwright receiving an honorary degree from the University of York.
Date: 20th January 2017. Picture James Hardisty. BAFTA winning screenwriter Sally Wainwright receiving an honorary degree from the University of York.
HAPPY Valley creator Sally Wainwright has admitted she believes her talents as a writer have been overlooked in the past because she is a woman.

The award-winning writer and director has earned the honour of a South Bank Show profile with presenter Melvyn Bragg, but she said that the accolade was long overdue.

Speaking of the show, which recognises the highest achievers in UK arts, the former Sowerby Bridge High School pupil told Radio Times magazine: “I thought, why haven’t they done this sooner?

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“The South Bank Show did Paul Abbott and Russell T Davies years ago, but I’ve been overlooked... I think it’s because I’m a woman.”

Recognised for her hit television series, including Last Tango In Halifax and At Home With The Braithwaites, Wainwright still regards her five-year stint writing ITV soap Coronation Street in the 1990s as one of her proudest achievements – more so than giving birth to her first child, George.

But she added: “The whole atmosphere is overwhelmingly male and even now it’s tough, there are so many fewer women writers and directors.