Nida Manzoor’s masterpiece of a show starring Muslim women of color makes its long-awaited return. Three years after its debut, We Are Lady Parts will return for a second season on Peacock on May 30.
When We Are Lady Parts debuted in 2021, it felt like a miracle of representation for Muslim, South Asian, SWANA, and Black communities. Writer-director Nida Manzoor brought us the compelling stories of Amina (Anjana Vasan), Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey), Ayesha (Juliette Motamed), Bisma (Faith Omole), Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse), along with supporting characters like Noor (Aiysha Hart) and Ahsan (Zaqi Ismail). We got to see the band come together, deal with internal and external strife, and persevere to become punk rock standouts who were gearing up to take on the world as proud Muslims. With fantastic characterizations and stellar direction and writing from Manzoor, who went on to write and direct the amazing Polite Society, fans were left craving more.
Thankfully, several months later, Channel 4 and Peacock moved to renew the series. Alas, the wait was long for Season 2, but if you pay attention to standard British release schedules, you’ll recognize that waits between seasons can be far longer than what we’re used to in the USA. With Manzoor at work on Polite Society, it made sense that the second season of her hit show might take a while. Based on what we are hearing about the show now, which now includes cast members like Bradley Banton as Ali, Kimani Arthur as Taifa, and Eman Alali as Farah, as well as guest stars Malala Yousafzai and Meera Syal it was well worth the wait.
In a statement to Deadline, Mazoor explained how the first season invigorated her for the second season. “Making season one of We Are Lady Parts was immense for me. It was a trial by fire, but I found my voice, my style and my confidence in creating this show,” she said. “Most importantly, I found my tribe — from actors and crew to producers and studio execs. So, coming to season two, I was galvanized. The characters, the world, the tone — it was all there, established, and ready to go. Now it was time to turn things up to 11. I wanted to go bolder, sillier, darker and deeper and that is exactly what we strived to do.”
She further elaborated, “In season two, we explore the interior lives of each of the women in more depth. Each of them facing new, existential challenges with all the silliness, pratfalls and banter of season one. The music is bigger too — more wild original tunes (penned by me and my siblings) and dare I say it, even better covers. The season overall asks the question of success. What is success? For a punk band — is fame, stadium shows and major record deals the answer? I wanted to explore the uncomfortable tension between art and commerce and ask how much compromise is too much. I’m really proud of what we achieved, and can’t wait to share it with old fans and new.”
We Are Lady Parts return comes at an exceedingly welcome time, when Islamophobia in both the US and UK is at an all time high due to the ongoing war in Gaza emboldening Islamophobic politicians and academic policymakers to crack down on Muslim students, as well as any Christian, Druze, or person of other religious affiliation whose family hails from a Muslim majority country, not least of which Palestine and Palestinians who are suffering the most. While of course representation is not liberation from prejudice in and of itself, it remains crucially important to combat Islamophobia, as Season 1 of We Are Lady Parts did so masterfully, and Season 2 is likely to as well.
We at The Nerds of Color are immensely excited for Season 2, and congratulate Nida Manzoor and the whole cast and crew for what is sure to be another hilarious, emotional, musically packed, and overall riveting season.
You can watch We Are Lady Parts Season 2 on Peacock starting May 30.
