The Change - Season 1

Linda, a 50-year-old, married mother of two, is convinced she's got early onset dementia after forgetting what a shoe is called. But when her GP tells her it is, in fact, the menopause, she feels invigorated and empowered by this information and decides to claw back some of the time she's spent doing ‘invisible work' over the years and do something for herself for a change.
Dusting off her old Triumph, she heads to the Forest of Dean to find a time capsule she hid in a tree as a child, in an attempt to reconnect with the person that she used to be.

The first people she meets are the formidable Eel Sisters, who run the Eel Café and who are adored by the men of the town. They reluctantly agree to let Linda rent their caravan on the agreement that she cleans it up first. Ironically, Linda is already cleaning, but this time she's doing it on her own terms, and for herself.
Linda spends her first night in her new home at the local pub, where she meets Tony. A man of simple pleasures, born and bred in the forest, he's rarely challenged on his outdated, often problematic points of view, but when he is, it tends to not take much to get him on side.
However, on her first day in town, Linda inadvertently sets in motion a white lie which quickly snowballs…

In the hunt for her childhood time capsule, Linda discovers that the forest community is a far cry from the world she's left behind, from the eccentric Eel Sisters, and a man who lives in the woods with the wild boar, to the outspoken Verderer, local disaffected teen Ryan and artist and DJ Joy.

Linda heads off into the forest in search of her time capsule which she hid up an old oak tree 40 years ago – armed only with an OS map and a prayer to St Anthony. But her prayers are answered more quickly than she expected.

The moment is soon broken by the arrival of ‘Pig Man' (as he's known to his friends). A reclusive figure who lives a solitary, self-sufficient life in the forest with only the wild boar for company, Pig Man gave up a job in the city after a devastating life event and now lives a frugal life off-grid with frothy coffee being his only extravagance.

But it turns out Linda might not be the only person with secrets as it's revealed that Pig Man might know more about the time capsule than he's letting on…

The town is busy preparing for the annual Town Meeting – a highlight of the year and even more pressing this year with the Eel Sisters announcing that this year's Eel Festival will be led by an Eel Queen rather than the traditional Eel King – news that is dividing the town as much as the threat of developers building over parts of the forest.

But with her tree found and the time capsule missing, Linda starts to question whether it's time to return home. A hunt for a leaving present for Pig Man finds her stumbling upon some feminist literature in the charity shop, and she is astounded to find that Simone de Beauvoir's words chime with her own experience of the futility of housework. When she discovers an eviction notice on Pig Man's cave, she hurries to the Town Meeting with the proof that the developers are pushing ahead with plans, unbeknownst to the locals.
Realising that her beloved forest is under threat gives Linda a renewed sense of purpose and a place in the community.

Linda receives some unexpected and emotional information from Pig Man, and an explosive visit from her sister Siobhan, who's furious about Linda's decision to have time away from Steve and the kids. Long-supressed frustrations bubble up between the sisters, and Linda finds herself finally taking a stand against the domineering Siobhan.

The Eel Sisters take matters into their own hands with the proposed development through the forest, buying the community some time. The Verderer, meanwhile, is taking no chances and has decamped to the beloved oak tree to keep the developers at bay for as long as he can.
Ryan makes a big decision about his unexpected inheritance, and the Eel sisters now turn their attention to the forthcoming Eel Festival and who they will crown the inaugural Eel Queen.

It's Festival Eve and Linda, Joy, Carmel and Agnes are putting the final preparations into place. Spirits are high and the four women bond over their shared experiences of the female experience for the first time. Linda is thrilled and moved to be invited to take part and be privy to these women's secrets – some more shocking than others. It's only tainted by Linda's inner turmoil about lying to these women who have quickly become her friends.

It's the day of the annual Eel Festival – reclaimed this year by the Eel Sisters as a celebration of what it means to be a woman, with puberty, the menopause and rebirth at the centre of the festivities.

The Verderer is made an honorary ‘Eel Child' to recognise everything he's done to save the forest. He comes down from his makeshift camp in the tree to take part, and Pig Man agrees holds the fort while he's gone.
It's beautiful and Linda has never felt so seen, and so much part of a community before, but the harmony is about to be broken…