Advanced Television

Willan signs first-look deal with Expectation

November 13, 2024

Writer, actor and comedian Sophie Willan has signed a first-look deal with Alma’s Not Normal production company, Expectation.

The deal was agreed between Alexia Edwards, Chief Operating Officer at Expectation and Michael Duff of Maison Two for both scripted and non-scripted projects.

As Executive Producer of both series of Alma’s Not Normal, Expectation’s Creative Director Scripted, Nerys Evans, already has a strong working relationship with Willan but this deal will see this expand to also include non-scripted projects.

Willan is the star of the hit BBC comedy Alma’s Not Normal, which she created, wrote and executive produced alongside Nerys Evans. The series that centres on Boltonian wild-child, Alma Nuthall and her family of eccentric, unruly women was commissioned after Sophie was the inaugural winner of the BBC’s Caroline Aherne Bursary Award.

The second season, which concluded recently on BBC Two, has already received glowing reviews.

Speaking about the deal Willan said: “I’m thrilled to embark on this new creative journey with Expectation! After years of collaboration, Nerys and I have developed a fantastic creative shorthand, and I truly feel supported by her and the entire team. I love working with Expectation because they strike a perfect balance between giving you creative freedom and autonomy whilst also providing invaluable guidance with their expertise in tele. I’m also looking forward to collaborating with other team members on non-factual projects. Watch this space —exciting things are on the horizon.”

Evans added: “Working with Sophie is an absolute privilege. I never fail to be impressed by her creativity and work ethic, she manages to write with such heart and intelligence, her brilliantly unique, unflinching view of the world is exactly what we need more of in television. We look forward to bringing to life more of Sophie’s incredible authentic characters in other scripted commissions and also unleashing her plethora of thought-provoking ideas in the unscripted genre.”

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