Gemma Arterton leads the cast of Funny Woman through the 1960s as her character aims to make her dream to become a sitcom star come true.

Originally named Barbara Parker, season one saw the character transform and rename herself Sophie Straw as she ditches her hometown of Blackpool for the big city of London.

However, her dreams are far easier said than done, with Sophie having to keep a brave face and strong stomach in order to survive the misogynistic, male-dominated industry.

In season two, it looks like she’s finally got her big break with her own show, but the road to fame and happiness never runs smoothly – and a family secret threatens to devastate her.

Here’s what Gemma had to say about the series – and why it’s so important to address the history of important changes with light-hearted humour.

Her real name is Barbara Parker, and she changed it on the recommendation of a terrible agent she once had. She's a working-class girl from Blackpool, raised by her aunt and her father. She grew up watching and listening to all amazing comedies on the radio – she was inspired by the Goons and all that gang, Tony Hancock but particularly Lucille Ball, who is her ultimate hero.

Humour is in her bones – she loves comedy and has it intuitively inside her. The series is about her finding her comedy and having confidence in it. She grows to understand she has the capability to create her own work.

She's a ‘dippy-doodle’ which is a saying that she has in the show. She can sometimes get herself into scrapes and is quite reckless at times, but she lives in the moment. She’s a lovely character to play. I have a similar personality to her, and I adore playing her. It’s especially nice coming back for a second season because I feel I know more about who she is. She’s one of my favourite characters I’ve played, for sure.

She has her own sitcom, which she's managed to convince Ted Sargent to give her, but she's lost her writers and her director because they've had to go over to a rival network. So, she sort of has what she's always wanted but she doesn't have her team.

At the end of series one, her love for Dennis was requited, however he's married and there's a few problems there in terms of the divorce and whether they can be together or not. She's still living at Marge's flat with Marge and now Diane –it's getting a bit crowded.

Plus, because now she's also a household name, she gets recognised everywhere she goes and the press are all very interested in her. She’s also not speaking to her dad because at the end of series one, she found out that he'd withheld letters from her mother. So, she's furious with him and there's this tension between them.

Sophie goes on quite a big journey. Everyone knows she’s funny and she has a sitcom that's very close to her and her personality. In the new series, she broadens her abilities. She goes to do a French film and tries to be a serious actress before realising that her passion is in comedy. She starts to break new ground by writing a show called ‘Flatbirds’ about two women.

She does have some low moments too – she has issues with Dennis and has a falling out with Marge – but with time she manages to pull things back together and bucks societal expectations.

Something happens at the end of series two that will really change her life. In a nutshell, she’s doing it her own way, which is what I always hoped would happen – she doesn't feel like she needs anyone else to tell her what to do. She can form her own path.

Originally, I was drawn to her because she's a working-class woman with an accent. She has come up against a lot of adversities. I identified to that, to a certain extent, and her sense of humour and the way she sees the world.

She has great depth of feeling and there is great drama in this show alongside all the comedy aspects. She has a way of being able to find ‘the funny’ in everything. Even when she's at her lowest point, she still has a sense of humour. I identify with that quite a lot as well.

So even though it is a comedy-drama, it's tackling a lot of important societal issues that still resonate today.

Absolutely. I think it's something that I always look for now in the work that I do. Especially when I’m involved as a producer. You want to say something, but have it said in a way that is not too heavy-handed and comedy is a really good way of doing that.

The 1960s period was a time where we can show the differences to now, and how much we've progressed. A lot of the problems Sophie faces are ingrained sexism, classism, racism.

There's a lot of homophobia in this era – we have Bill, who's gay in the show. He comes up against it, especially in this season.

It's nice to be able to show really important issues in this show, but it's never done in a way that's too heavy handed.

There was a sea of change towards the end of the 1960s, it was an incredible time. There was liberation for women and a lot more freedom with the revolution.

Series two is in comparison to the early 1960s where series one began. Sophie is thrown into a time of real change – she is part of it and is living it. We have that in this season with the characters of Marge and Diane. Marge is very involved with women's rights and equal pay. We see Marge become more outspoken and militant about equal pay for equal work.

We also see Diane, who really struggles, and I think it really reflects what it was like to be a black woman in London at this time. A professional black woman, trying to work in journalism, was particularly hard and we see her struggle to find her place.

Morwenna is always very detailed on backstory. During the process we discussed what star sign she’d be because they were putting it on her birth certificate. I said she’s a Gemini for sure and she agreed.

In terms of the family life, I try to draw on some of my experiences and I fill in the gaps where I can, but I’m not the sort of actor that writes huge backstories in great detail.

I always love the rehearsal. I think that's where the soul of the show is created.

I think there's scenes with Marge and Diane where you can see the ease in their friendship. There's this naturalness between us, which maybe wasn't there as much in series one. It's nice, when life imitates art, and it kind of seeps into the show.

When I’m filming, being an EP is something that I put to the back of my mind because the role is so intense and there's a lot of work to do. Outside of filming, in things like pre-production, I’m working on script development with my producers and Morwenna Banks. I have a say about things like key casting and HOD choices. Then, in post-production, I watch and help with the edit, music choices and so on. It's nice because I get a say on how the show looks and feels, not just on my performance.

I do relish doing both. Day-to-day when we’re filming the show, I can't see the whole show in my mind, which is what you do when you’re in pre-production and post.

It’s nice because often, when you’re an actor in a show, you just turn up and do your bit and then leave. The show might not turn out the way that you'd hoped, or it goes down a different path to what you imagined. Whereas with Funny Woman, I feel like it is what I hoped it would be. It's nice to have a bit of autonomy in that aspect.