Alma's Not Normal is a Brit Com (created by Sophie Willan) about a woman called Alma and her dysfunctional family. The pilot initially aired in 2020, before the rest of the Series was made available on the BBC iPlayer.
The show is about Alma, a woman with no qualifications, who decides to become an escort to achieve her dreams of leaving Bolton. Meanwhile, her mother battles an addiction to Heroin and her grandmother must cope with her daughter deciding to live with her.
Tropes featured in this show:
- Abusive Parents: Her mother was neglectful enough that Alma was forced to look after herself and was eventually sent to foster care for it.
- Addled Addict: Alma's mother has an addiction to Heroin and was left not only being unable to take care of her child as a result, but eventually has to go to a Psych Ward.
- Bait-and-Switch: At the end of the pilot, it initially looks like Alma will be going for a Sandwich Artist job. It is then revealed that she is actually going to try for an escort job.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Leanne is plus-sized and can pick up anybody from dating apps, owing to her "raw sexual magnetism".
- Bittersweet Ending: The ending to Series 1. Alma and her Grandmother are unable to help Alma's mother with her problems. However, Alma is also able to move on from her abusive former boyfriend and is happier for it.
- British Brevity: The first series is 6 episodes long.
- Burger Fool: Alma is so unqualified that the only jobs she can get are at fast food places such as SubNGo, complete with a bright yellow tacky uniform.
- Dating Service Disaster: Alma goes on a date with someone she met on Tinder. The date is awkward and at the end, she finds out that he went on a date with her grandmother.
- Disappeared Dad: Alma’s father is absent from her life, having left her when she was just a baby.
- Flashback: Most episodes have them:
- Episode 4 opens with one of these to 1999, where Alma can be seen assisting her mum in getting away from the police and providing her with alcohol.
- Episode 6 has flashbacks to Joan getting pregnant with Lin and then to Lin getting pregnant with Alma.
- Foodfight!: Alma and Leanne briefly fling food at each other in "The Richard Gere".
- Foster Kid: Alma was moved around the care system a bit after her mother became incapable of caring for her.
- Honor Thy Abuser:
- Played with. Alma feels she should honour Lin, but finally gets over it after Joan tells her.
- Played straight by Joan, who admits to not being
- Pyromaniac: Alma's mother has a tendency to put things on fire during her drug-induced psychoses.
- Raised by Grandparents: Played with. Joan raised Alma sporadically in between being in foster care.
- Shopping Montage: Occurs at the start of "The Richard Gere" when Alma decides to spend her new earned money by going clothes shopping with her best friend Leanne.
- Title Drop: Alma says "I'm not normal, am I?" when breaking up with Anthony.
