Brief Encounters: ITV premieres fun, moving drama about 1980s women challenging social taboos

Get excited for a brand new television series that will make your Mondays go from glum to fun as ITV launches new comedy drama, Brief Encounters.

IBTimes UK attended the screening and press conference of the new series earlier this month and we can guarantee it's a show worth watching this summer as it has everything from humour to social taboos and marriage breakdowns.

Set in 1980s Sheffield, the plot follows four women, Steph, Pauline, Nita and Dawn, who become four unlikely entrepreneurs that begin to sell exotic lingerie from underwear store Ann Summers.

The ladies are striving to find happiness and purpose in their lives – and despite coming from diverse backgrounds and having very different interests and outlooks on the world they are united and empowered by their recent professional venture which poses a threat to the norms of a small community.

They face a plethora of obstacles in their quest to make the women of Sheffield feel sexually liberated in racy lingerie, with Steph (Sophie Rundle) encountering marital troubles as her husband Terry (Karl Davies) finds her new career path humiliating and denigrating.

We'll see Sharon Rooney from My Mad Fat Diary flourish in her new role as the gregarious Dawn, with her outlandish personality and intriguing style choices, and the oldest lady of the bunch, Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) take inspiration from her part in Calender Girls as she breaks out from her lonely life as a housewife to embark on an exciting new life. Angela Griffin (Lewis, Waterloo Road), adds a touch of grit and warmth to her role as Nita as she struggles to keep her husband Kieran (Don Gilet) on the right side of the law.

Created and written by Fay Rusling and Oriane Messina, and executive produced by CPL's Arabella McGuigan and Danielle Lux alongside the writer-creators, the show will premiere on Monday 4 July at 9pm on ITV.

Speaking of the series, Rooney said: "Brief Encounters is about women, their lives, the men in their lives and their relationships with each other, not just sex toys and Ann Summers, although that does feature occasionally. It's so special because all the characters are so different. We're four women who would never have a brief encounter."

The project was initially envisioned as a comedy and has been in development at ITV for more than a year.