‘All roads have led here’

The second-generation Irish woman, born in Gloucester to parents from counties Roscommon and Leitrim, has written, executive produced and stars in a brand-new television show which airs on Channel 4 next week.

The Change is a comedy drama about the menopause.

It focuses on a character named Linda who is facing that milestone, which awaits all women, and is unsure exactly who she is.

And it is set in the historic Forest of Dean, which Christie spent many hours exploring as a child.

The mother-of-two leads an all-star cast in the series, which pays homage to her childhood memories while tackling a topic that is close to her heart.

“It’s had a long journey this little show, it has evolved quite a lot from its first inception,” she told The Irish Post

“On the one hand I have been thinking about it my entire life, since I was a child, probably since I was five or six.

“I always wanted to write something that was set in the Forest of Dean, which is 10 miles from where I grew up in Gloucester, and we would go there for walks and picnics when I was a child.

“It’s this really magical place, it’s like no other place,” she explains, “for me it’s like a magical land, the place of childhood memories, this idyllic place, and so in terms of what the show looks like I wanted it to look like my memories of it.”

While the idea has been brewing for decades, Christie, now 51, has spent the last seven years writing The Change

“There are things I have taken from my life that are in the show as I have been thinking about this for a very long time, but in terms of actually writing it, I would say it goes back six or seven years,” she confirms.

“It was originally a script that was commissioned and slightly different,” Christie explains, “then lockdown happened, and I changed, I became a different person, and so I changed the main protagonist to reflect more of the person I was at that point, which became Linda.”

Christie is honest about the theme of menopause becoming central to her work due to it now being part of her own life.

The topic also features in her current stand-up show, Who Am I? which she will bring to the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August before taking it on the road for a tour of Britain and Ireland from September to December.

“Primarily, Who Am I? is about the menopause and my experiences of it,” she admits.

“But there is a bit of politics and a little bit of gender double standards in there too, you know, the kind of things that women just can’t get away with in the same way that men can.

“Especially high-profile men, like politicians, where we still judge women very differently.”

Christie is confident that the subject of the menopause offers something for all - not just the women in the audience.

“I’d say it’s a very accessible show,” she says.

“Even though on paper it may seem like everything I have just mentioned is for a very specific demographic, actually those themes are really not.”

And the writer has done her research on this.

“When I was working the show out at the comedy clubs in London, I noticed that there were a lot of young men who were really laughing,” she explains.

“I called a table out on it once. There were about six young guys sitting at it and I asked them ‘why are you laughing so much?’.

“Then I realised. I was like, ‘oh, I’m your mum, aren’t I?’,” she laughs, “they were living with those experiences.” menopause is accessible because everybody is affected by it in a different way.” is determined to tell, and she is hopeful her television series will help bring the topic into more mainstream discussion. certain age in her life was very important to me,” she says. enough of these stories at the moment, but it is changing. covered now it is covered in passing, it’s not the beating heart of the show or the main protagonist of a show.

Just that journey of reaching a certain age and realising I don’t know who I am anymore. Linda is at that point. She doesn’t know what her place is in the world.” which is her first proper acting role and is something of a dream come true. she admits. auntie on my fourth birthday and I told her I am going to be an actor.

“I did amateur dramatics and got a scholarship to go to drama school but when I left I never got any work.

“That’s why I started writing stand-up, because I thought this is really difficult, waiting to be picked and going and doing audition after audition.

“Auditions are not great for the self-esteem,” she adds, “so I thought I need to take control back here to a degree.

“I started writing stand-up and I really got into that, although I still loved acting so much, but the stand up and writing took over in the end.

“So Linda is unbelievably the first proper acting job that I’ve got, and I am 51 and I had to write it and cast myself in it,” she laughs.

“But actually, there is part of me that thinks that is absolutely correct, I feel like all roads have led here.

“I genuinely believe everything that I have done has taken me here to this point.”

So how did it feel to finally get on set and start filming?

“It was the dream and more,” Christie says.

“I think it’s really important to keep writing all the time,” she adds, “because you evolve and change as you get older, the world changes as well and I feel like a different person, so I think you have to keep going and keep churning over new stuff.

“Nothing is ever done, you know, you just sort of run out of time.”

The comedian admits that general societal themes inspire her comedy, as well as nuggets from her personal life, but the writing doesn’t always come easy.

“I use real events – like politics or climate change – of society in my writing, but with the personal stuff a lot of it is more exaggerated, with a seed of truth in there somewhere,” she admits.

“But writing is so hard,” she adds, “and what I tend to do is work backwards.” imagination, a conscience. I would still pray silently, like at random moments I would say my Our Fathers or Hail Marys or pray for a safe journey, things like that.

“I tend to know where I am going,” Christie explains, “I know my end point, and I start working back from that.

“Some things are just really habitual, as they are with you for years as a child, my parents were very religious.”

And then there is the fact that Irish people are particularly good at humour and storytelling.

“There is an openness, like a zest for life with Irish comedians,” Christie admits.

“There is a charm to Irish comedians, I’m not saying that about myself, but to me they tend to be imaginative and up for it, certainly the Irish comics that I know, there tends to be something unique about that.”

She adds: “I think [storytelling] is in our DNA.

“I am the youngest of nine children and it was a huge part of my dad’s childhood, they would sit around the fire in Boyle, Roscommon when he was little and the women would tell stories.

“When I was growing up, we would sit around the fire, we had a coal open fire in our house until the mid to late ’80s, and we would tell stories. It was a really big part of our childhood.”

So, it may be little surprise that Christie would go on to build a career out of writing comedy.

“Every part of this has been, from getting the script commissioned,

“So, with shows like An Ungrateful Woman [in 2014], for example, I had the last line, the final punchline for the show and I worked backwards from there.

“I don’t find it easy, writing is hard, getting the script commissioned, they

“Stories are great, it’s how we understand people and the world, and they are just really important,”

The Change commissioned there is not a second of the whole process that I have not rare it is to be able to tell stories like commissioned there is not a second of the whole process that I have not tell good about it, I am really happy with

“I don’t think it will ever sink in, it has been such a huge privilege and And now, with the show about to air, Christie is excited for the public been working on for so many years.

“With a stand-up show its literally just me, but with this I just feel really good about it, I am really happy with this and I think that’s because there from June

21. Bridget Christie

Who Am bridgetchristie.co.uk