A new drama series with “twists and turns aplenty” from the creator of Happy Valley has been announced by the BBC.
Written and executive produced by Sally Wainwright, who is the BAFTA-winning writer of the smash-hit BBC series Happy Valley, comes “a celebration of women of a certain age” in the form of a new six-part drama series called Hot Flush.
'Hot Flush' will be set in the picturesque West Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge.
The highly-anticipated new series was announced at the Edinburgh TV Festival last week.
Just like Happy Valley, Hot Flush is set in West Yorkshire – particularly in the popular picturesque town of Hebden Bridge.
Image: Flickr
Hot Flush centres on the lives of “five women of a certain age” who come together to create a “makeshift and butt-of-the-joke” punk-rock band so they can enter a talent contest, but when they rehearse together, they end up discovering that they actually have a lot more to say than they ever imagined.
The story follows the women as they deal with everything from demanding jobs, and grown-up children who eat up their energy, to dependent parents, husbands who’ve let them down, and the menopause.
The band, therefore, becomes “a catalyst for change in the women’s lives”, according to the BBC.
As the story progresses, the five women find that “it’s more than music that binds them” as they discover a “deeply potent, long-buried secret” connects them, it’s a secret that could “tear everything apart”.
📢 New Sally Wainwright drama alert!
Hot Flush centres on the lives of five women of a certain age who create a makeshift, butt-of-the-joke punk-rock band in order to enter a talent contest - and discover they have a lot more to say
Sally Wainwright says she’s been wanting to write a series like this “for a long time”, and has admitted it’s her “personal homage” to those who “woke me up to what I wanted to do with my life when I was 13”.
The Director of BBC Drama, Lindsay Salt, has called Hot Flush a “vital story”.
“We’re so excited to have the magnificent Sally Wainwright back writing on the BBC, with the brilliant Drama Republic team producing,” Lindsay commented.
“Hot Flush is a sharply observed, vibrant and vital story of five very different women at the same stage in their lives, joined together by their love of music.
“But that’s just the start.
“As you’d expect from Sally – there are twists and turns aplenty to keep viewers enthralled.”
Hot Flush is set to air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with official release dates set to be confirmed in due course.
Dozens of national museums across the UK are set to remain free for everyone to visit, it has been confirmed.
Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the 14 national museums of the UK are all located in England – including the Royal Armouries in Leeds – and free entry to was first introduced all the way back in 2001, with millions of visitors having benefitted since.
National museums are said to add more than £1 billion a year to the economy, and bring in visitors from all over the world.
In fact, seven of the UK’s 10 most visited museums are national museums, and 7.1 million people visited the Natural History Museum and 6.4 million visited the British Museum in 2025 alone.
Earlier this year though, the Government committed to working with local leaders and the museum and tourism sectors to explore whether charging overseas visitors could help museums’ finances.
But following this, it’s now believed that charging could deter visitors, and that the impacts and benefits would ‘not be felt equally’ across the sector.
The Government has announced that all national museums in the UK will remain free for everyone to visit / Credit: Science Museum Group
Instead, the free entry will be funded by the £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund – which is providing £760 million for museums – while £600 million of infrastructure funding is supporting national museums and DCMS-sponsored cultural organisations.
The latter funding will be used to address critical maintenance and works to estates, and enable institutions to deliver on their commitments to share collections with visitors from around the world.
A further £160 million is coming from The Museum Estates and Development Fund to help museums tackle maintenance backlogs.
On top of that, the Government will work with Arts Council to develop a long-term strategic plan for the future of museums.
A beloved Leeds bar is moving after 15 years – but its new home is only three minutes away
Clementine Hall
One of Leeds' most loved late-night bars announced it would be moving on from its current location after more than a decade.
Known for its eclectic party atmosphere, fabulous cocktails and fun DJs, Wax has long been a go-to spot for Leeds night owls looking for a big night.
The New Briggate bar has built up a loyal following over the years, becoming something of an institution on the city’s nightlife scene.
A couple of months ago, Wax has announced that it would be moving location, bringing an end to an era at its current home at the top of town.
Or so we thought, as they have now revealed their new location and it's only three minutes up the road!
Images: Wax Bar
The brand-new Wax will be located at 5 Cross Belgrave street, next to Belgrave Music Hall and Grounded and Co. So you can rest assured that they'll be in very good company.
Announcing the exciting news to Instagram, Wax Bar said: "So here we go folks...venue reveal...if you hadn't managed to get it out of us already.
"We are excited to announce that as of the near future, 5 Cross Belgrave will be our new home. Only a 3 minute walk away from our current abode, nestled inbetween Belgrave Music Hall, Grounded and Co and Teppanyaki.
"As you can see there's still lot's of work to be done on the place so no moving date as of yet."
The space is already looking great, and we can't wait to see what they do with the place. We'll keep you updated with an opening date as and when we find out.
But for now, you can still party at the original Wax on New briggate.
Emily Sergeant -
29th August 2023 
