Funny Cow (15)

Maxine Peake is superb in this unflinching drama about a standup comedienne on the 70s northern club circuit.

Stepping into the backstreets of her past, the now successful adult meets her childhood self. Having embraced her outsider status as a child, Peake’s misfit only feels at home on stage. “I can’t be a civilian,” she tells Alun Armstrong’s Lenny, the miserable “master of mirth” who assures her that “women aren’t funny”, and suggests she try singing or stripping instead.

Fleeing the nest, she moves in with angry and violent Bob (Tony Pitts), whom she faces with a deadpan defiance learned at the wrong end of her father’s belt - later picking up with the bookish Angus (Paddy Considine).

The supporting roles are solid, from Stephen Graham's twin turn as brutal father and cowed brother, to Lindsey Coulson’s heartbreaking performance as an increasingly lonely mum, driven to drink by the sheer coldness of life. There are some eye-catching cameos too, from comedians such as John Bishop and Jim Moir (AKA Vic Reeves).

It’s an intimate portrait of an often abrasive character - a challenging role to which Peake rises magnificently.